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| Bizarre! MC Anantnag fills Aarpath River to develop bus terminal | | Locals protest, stall work | |  Saahil Suhail
Early Times Report
Anantnag, Mar 10: Instead of contributing in preserving the water bodies, Municipal Committee Anantnag has started filling a portion of river Aarpath in Aashajipora area of Anantnag town to develop a bus terminal
The unprecedented development has agitated the local populace who on Saturday asked authorities to stop work.
According to locals, the portion of land being filled by the municipal authorities is part of river Aarpath and was evacuated from the encroachers after 2014 floods. "After 2014 floods, this area of river Aarpath was evacuated from encroachers. Farmers who had planted trees on the embankments of the river cooperated and agreed to cut off all the trees but now I came to know that the Municipal Committee Anantnag has started again filling the land. We resisted and requested Deputy Commissioner Anantnag to stop the work," former Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Bashir Ahmad Khan told Early Times.
He said that during 2014 the river Aarpath created havoc only due to encroachments.
"I was Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag in 2014. After floods Hon'ble High Court sought a report from me and other deputy commissioners to know the actual cause of floods. We reported and appraised the court about the situation. Rigorous efforts were put in to clear the encroachments but now this activity has surprised me," he said.
Khan said that he was well aware about the behavior of river Aarpath and if municipal authorities went ahead to develop the bus terminal on river bed it will not only choke the water flow in river but can damage several areas of Anantnag in times flood.
Requesting Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to intervene, locals said that officials of district administration and Municipal Committee in particular were misusing her names for their gains.
"We are being told that it is Chief Minister's Commitment but we hardly believe as she is responsible Chief Minister and can't allow the destruction of water bodies at a time when her government is spending billions on dredging of rivers across Kashmir," they said.
Officials of Irrigation and Flood Control Department said that the Municipal Committee Anantnag hasn't a sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from them. Executive Officer of Municipal Committee Anantnag Shabir Ahmad told Early Times that they spending the work after locals raised objections. However he said that the bus terminal was being developed on the directions of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and planning department had already released 30 lakh rupees for it.
"We didn't seek NOC from Irrigation and Flood Control Department as their officials were present when Chief Minister visited the spot," he claimed.
"We want to shift the Achabal bus terminal to this place only to decongest the town," he added.
However, Executive Engineer UBL Kashmir, Nazir Ahmad told Early Times that estimated cost of the work is 14.5 lakh rupees and planning department has released only 15 lakhs for it. |
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