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| Not by dredging alone but by anti-encroachment drive too | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 29: If the Jammu and Kashmir Government wants to repeat an incident of 1960,when the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru commissioned one dredger for cleaning the river Jehlum,it should invite either Sonia Gandhi,grand daughter-in -law of Nehru or Rahul Gandhi,great grandson of Panditji,to inaugurate two dredgers that are being pressed into service within a couple of months under the conservation plan of the Jehlum that meanders through the valley right from Verinag,its source in south Kashmir,to Bar amullah in the north.
The Government has moved from the Dal lake to river Jehlum.After 36 years' of planning and implementation of various schems for conservation and development of the Dal lake the world famous water body continues to shrink and stink.Several thousand crores of rupees have gone down the drain as there is no sign of lake conservation. Encroachment and weeds continue to eat the lake but the Government is not afraid of planning and money laundering.
Under the recent agreement the state Government has decided to procure two dredgers from the US-based Elicott company.The Government is to pay Rs.12 crores for the purchase of two dredgers.
Saving the river Jehlum is more important than the conservation of the Dal lake.It is so because the Jehlum water feeds three major power projects in the valley whereas conservation of the Dal lake is important in the sector of tourism.
Will the two dredgers lead to conservation and development of the Jehlum ?Possibilities are remote unless dredging exercise is supplemented with anti-encroachment and anti-pollution drive.During the last 35 years large chunks of the banks of the river jehlum hav been encroached upon where people have built sheds and raised kitchen gardens.
The entire dirt and filth that is collected in the city of Srinagar and other towns and townlets that are located close to the banks of the river are thrown in the Jehlum resuling in high degree of pollution and squeezing of the river bed and the breadth.
One can easily spot the extent of filth and dirt that lie on the bed of the river right from Awantipora to Baramullah when the river level touches new low during the winter months.It is because of encroachment and filth that children are able to cross the river between Zero bridge and Safa kadal on foot.On various occasions children are seen playing cricket on the river bed in late autumn and during the winter months.
Pressing into service two dredgers for cleaning river Jehlum like pressing into service deweeding machines for conserbvation of Dal lake may prove a meaningless exercise if the flow of pollutants into these water bodies and removal of encroachment were not give top priority.
As far as river Jehlum is concerned there is need for carrying out desilting programme right from Khanabal to Safakadal so that during the lean period the river does not turn into a stream or a Nallah.
Already Pakistan has started raising hue and cry over drop in the flow of water from the three rivers that flow into Pakistan from Jammu and Kashmir.Hence there is need for increasing the water level in the Jehlum,the Chenab and the Indus so that Islamabad does not raise hurdles in the plan of setting up new hydel power projects on these rivers.
Mere dredging may not be sufficient.In certain areas river banks have been grabbed and houses and huts have been built.In other areas increase in the number of gandolas and other boats have added to the pollution because whatever dirt and filth that get accumulated in these gandolas is thrown into the river.Hence anti-ncroachment and anti-pollution measures need to be taken in hand on a war footing. |
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