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| 45 days of Curfew exposes JKLAWDA | | Preventive measures prove hoax | | Peerzada Ummer
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 24: The dal lake stinks and the colour of its water has turned rusty, making every passer-by aggrieved about the plight of this world famous water body that has now turned into a cesspool.
The 46 days of continuous curfew in Kashmir since July 8, this year has unmasked the questionable functioning of J&K Lakes & Waterways Development Authority (JKLAWDA). The authority has so far spent no less than thousands of crores of rupees on its protection and restoration of its pristine glory- that now has become a thing of the past.
At present, the lake qualifies in all respects to be called a cesspool with marsh, polluted water and land mass dominating the scenes.
As Shikaras no longer, due to the absence of tourists, float on its waters and houseboats are emptied, the cosmetic exercises that LAWDA was making turn exposed.
As one trolls across the shore line of the lake, which is about 15.5 kilometres and is encompassed by a boulevard lined with Mughal era gardens, parks, houseboats and hotels, the miserable condition of the lake is all one could find. "Till now what LAWDA was doing was a mere make-up of an aged woman. As they stopped doing Make- up the real face gets revealed. This is what has happened with the Dal. As LAWDA stopped its machines for few days, the reality of the lake is surprising everyone," says Aamir Yousuf, an environmentalist who is doing research over state's lost water bodies.
What merits concern is where all the money that has been pumped by LAWDA into protecting the lake from getting further polluted?
According to the official documents in possession of the Early Times, under various state and centrally sponsored schemes, thousands of crores of rupees have been pumped into the lake's protection.
MH 3435, under Central Sector scheme Rs 191 lakhs have been spent on Dal. The breakup of the expenditure informs that Rs 34 lakhs have been spent on sewerage treatment works while as Rs 115 lakhs on catchment management works. Further Rs 27 lakh, the authorities claim to have spent on the infrastructure.
Under another scheme under the umbrella of the state sector called MH4217 and the amount spent in 2014 on the protection of Dal by this scheme was Rs 578 lakhs.
Through Prime Minister's reconstruction program called PMRP, the state government claims to have spent two crore rupees in just one year alone. The state authorities claim that they have spent this amount on acquisition of land within Dal.
As the illegal constructions see no end around this world famous lake, the government claims that it has spent Rs 1.5 crores on rehabilitation and resettlement of people living around the lake.
In a similar fashion Rs 2.72 crores have been used over what the government earlier claimed de-weeding and cleaning of channels around the lake. Rs 1.65 crore was shown as an expenditure incurred upon administrative affairs.
Rs 91 lakhs have been used through another scheme in one year called B.S.U.P-JNNURM. Rs 89 lakhs have been spent on sewerage system and two lakh on rehabilitation.
Rs 133.57 lakhs have been spent under Urban Local grant in the year 2014 by the state authorities. Rs 1.32 crores were given away as the salaries for the staff while as the remaining amount was shown as the expenditure upon the telephone bills of babus.
Ironically and shocking for many, the depth of Dal lake is now reduced to an average depth of 4.5 feet (1.2 metres) only while as 50 years earlier it was more than 45 feet. |
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