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| With crores coming in for the beautification and protection of Jehlum, river continues to shrink | | Illegal encroachments on river banks go unchecked | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 28: With crores coming in for the beautification of the Jehlum, the once sparkling river continues to shrink due to the pollution and massive encroachments on its banks. This all goes despite the Water Resources Regulation Act (WRRA) of the state legislature providing executive powers to the concerned authorities to act against the offenders remains in force.
Spanning over more than 150 km across the valley, the river is being extensively polluted with illegal constructions go unabated on both of its banks in many areas of south and North Kashmir under the nose of the authorities.
Though state assembly few years back passed the Water Resources Regulation Act providing executive powers to the Flood control and Irrigation Department to come into action against the people causing pollution to the river by any means, no steps were taken by the concerned officials to save the river from being shrunk.
Pertinently the act empowers the concerned authorities to demolish the structures illegally constructed on the banks of the river and register on spot challan against the person involved in the illegal extraction or encroachment with out seeking permission from the law enforcement agencies.
"The authorities after the act was passed sealed some entry points on the river banks where the illegal extraction was being carried out but not a single illegal structure on any of its banks was demolished which are the more severe threat to the river than the extraction," said an official wishing anonymity.
Near Khanabal bridge, Guri and Bijbehara in Anantnag and Sangam, Kakpora, Halmulla, Samboora and many other places in Pulwama the unabated illegal constructions on the banks of Jehlum mock at the claims of the governments' Jehlum beautification project.
He also held the poor sewerage system responsible for causing pollution to the river.
"In the absence of effective sewerage system all the drains from Anantnag and Pampore across its banks flow directly into the Jhelum, severely damaging its flora and fauna," he said.
The locals accuse the concerned officials of being hand-in-glove with the offenders.
"It is irony that despite our repeated representations to the concerned officials to check the encroachments and the other causes of pollution to the river they have not taken any concrete step. It seems that the authorities are hand-in-glove with the offenders," said a group of residents of Anantnag.
They said that the encroachers who have come up with the illegal constructions on the river banks are dumping all the waste collected from from their houses into the river.
"Besides the house waste even the cow dung is being heaped on the banks of the Jehlum which has rendered the its water badly polluted," they said. A top official of irrigation and flood control department wishing anonymity said that crores of rupees came from the centre for beautifying and saving the river but the money was not properly utilised for the purpose. "Out of the money which flowed in for the purpose the banks at few places in Srinagar were cemented but the places where the river has shrunk to the fullest no steps were taken to save it from further damage," the official said. |
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