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| Sludge dumped on banks of Dal Lake | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 28 : Lakes and Water Ways Development Authority (LAWDA) which is always in news for its mismanagement has now been caught in another controversy related to its defunct Sewerage Treatment Plants located at three different places across Dal Lake. The vehicles of the department were caught red handed on Wednesday while they were unloading all the sludge and filth at the banks of Dal Lake near Shalimar.
As the continuous flow of sewage into the Dal had drastically affected the flora and fauna, the Government in the year 2000 had decided to construct STPs around the Dal lake to save it from further deterioration. The Lakes & Water Ways Development Authority (LAWDA) sublet the job of constructing three STP's on the banks of Dal Lake at Hazratbal , Laam and Habak to a Delhi-based firm at a cost of Rs 8.90 crores with a target to reduce 90 percent nutrient load to facilitate flow of treated effluent into Dal. Before these STP's were commissioned the experts had forewarned that the Fluidised Aerobic Bio-reactor (FAB) technology used in them, was not suitable for Kashmir where sub-zero temperatures persist during the winter months. Notwithstanding the warning of experts, sources said the political pressure forced the inclusion of the "outdated technology" at the cost of Dal Lake. As predicted by the experts,
there has been massive proliferation of weeds and alarming deterioration of the lake's water quality near the STPs as well. With the passage of time these STP;s started to become dysfunctional as the sludge which was supposed to be ultra -filtered through various processes is now been loaded in the LAWDA vehicles and dumped in an open land located just on the banks of Dal Lake near Shalimar . "We have been requesting the LAWDA authorities not to dump this filth near our residential houses as the area has been turned into a cesspool and emits obnoxious smell, the agricultural land has also been damaged due to flow of this dirt and filth into local paddy fields. Above all this sludge again moves into the Dal Lake , was this the purpose of spending crores on these STP's ? questions Nazir Ahmad a local resident of Shath Mohalla Shalimar Talking to Early Times Chairman Centre For Community Development (CCD) an development NGO based in Srinagar said that Crores of rupees have been spend on the restoration and maintenance of Dal Lake.
He added that Rs 365 Crores have been provided to LAWDA under PM's Reconstruction Programme (PMRP) for the procurement of machines , the Environment & Forestry Ministry provided 300 Crore only few years backunder conservation sector , but it seems nothing has been spent on the ground . Pertinently it was CCD which exposed the defunct model. |
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