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| Centre serious over encroachment of water bodies; J&K Govt sleeping | | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 16: Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to begin identifying, video graphing and removing the encroachments from existing water bodies across the state for purely political reasons.
Top politicians and police officers have their own vested interest in the properties that have come-up along the existing water bodies. Source said that the government not moved an inch despite New Delhi repeatedly asking it to take strong steps for removing the encroachments from the embankments of the water bodies. As and when some movement was made, sources said that the influential ones managed to get the entire process stalled.
Union Water Resources Ministry had vide D.O. No. 4-6/2013-WB (Pt.)\34H 26th February, 2016 strictly asked municipal Corporations, local bodies and Gram Panchayats to ensure that all water bodies In their areas should be identified, videographed and kept free from encroachment, removing encroachment of existing water bodies including complete ban on disposal of sewerage and waste disposal. The letter was received by the state government and some preliminary exercise was done but thereafter, nothing has been heard from the ministry.
Sources in the civil secretariat said that the ministry has been made to believe that there are water bodies in Kashmir valley only when the fact is that more advanced and massive encroachment has taken place in Jammu region. Since those who have encroached water bodies in Jammu region are highly influential with connections in all the right quarters of the state as well as centre, state government has been unable to move an inch.
The water resources ministry had asked the state government to rejuvenate those water bodies which have been encroached in mission mode. "Suitable mechanisms backed by appropriate laws need to be put in place to protect future deterioration of water bodies. Urban Municipal Corporations and local bodies have to ensure that planning of urban settlements should conform to basic laws governing flood plains of river systems such that loss of life and property is avoided in eventualities similar to such disasters," the ministry had demanded.
State had been further advised that it must endeavor to adopt flood plain zoning and make it part and parcel of planning norms. But no such exercise has been carried out so far. Instead, some half-hearted actions have been taken which have so far yielded nothing and the encroachments are still going-on. The Ministry had further said that water bodies play a vital role in socio-economic development of the country Oil one hand and provide sustainable water security by and large to the local population.
"Over the years, general neglect to the maintenance of these water bodies has resulted in complete disappearance of many water bodies or reduction in size," the ministry had said while specifically referring to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The natural water bodies act as buffers to absorb excess run-off generated out of heavy downpour, which is released with significant time lags in such a manner that peak outflows into the drainage system remain manageable.
However, encroachments with the help of government resulted in Jammu and Kashmir experiencing devastating floods during September 2014. The ministry has noted that a team which visited the state to examine the causes and assess the damage found out that the basic cause was very heavy rainfall during September 3-7, 2014 resulting in flood peak of about 88000 cusec at Sangam and 113000 cusec at Srinagar, as against the safe carrying capacity of river Jhelum between Sangam and Srinagar of about 31700 cusec.
The peak flows unfortunately sustained for a good 6 hours causing inundation of large low lying areas and heavy damage in the Jhelum basin especially in Srinagar due to over topping and subsequent breaching of flood embankments. The low lying areas along the course of River Jhelum were functioning as natural flood detention basins during floods and were absorbing flood water spilling over the banks of river Jhelum.
Subsequently, the same flood water used to get released slowly. Ironically, during the last three to four decades, maximum urbanization has taken place in these low lying areas which used to act naturally as a cushion. The situation in Jhelum Basin has got further aggravated due to siltation resulting in limited carrying capacity of Jhelum and water bodies. All this added to the devastation caused by floods.
The disaster was further' accentuated due to rapid encroachment on natural drainage routes thus reducing the out-flows from mild sloped valley with peculiar bowl shape topography. The river Jhelum was just unable to carry the flood peak of about 3 times more than the safe carrying capacity.
Apart from hydrological and hydrodynamic considerations as described above, absence of flood plain zoning, mushrooming of construction in the midst of embanked Jaw lying areas all along river Jhelum, in utter disregard to the natural drainage system of the Srinagar city, significantly reduced natural waterways to drain-off accumulated waters.
In many areas development of suburbs on the natural water bodies or drainage channels itself acted as a proverbial final straw on camel's back when the tragedy finally struck. In context of above, it becomes important that water bodies, natural drainage channels and river flood plains are left free from encroachments so that draining capacity of these natural water systems and drainage channels remain functional to their capacity. |
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