Firdous Hassan
Srinagar: Next time you visit a water body in your locality, you might find it surprisingly clean.
Thanks to Jammu and Kashmir administration, schools and colleges have been asked to adopt and maintain water bodies as a part of extracurricular activities.
In a meeting, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, PK Pole directed Directors of School Education and Colleges to ensure that educational institutions adopt the water bodies.
“The chair appreciated the efforts of schools and colleges for cleaning the water bodies and sanitation process. Further, the Director Education Kashmir shall issue an order for the adoption of 4-5 water bodies by high schools and higher secondaries,” the minutes of the meeting read.
Apart from the water bodies, the schools have also been asked to adopt the chowks and public parks. “If there are no water bodies, then public parks, chowks shall be adopted, besides plantation drives shall be kickstarted,” the divisional commissioner said.
As per the minutes of the meeting, the colleges have been specifically given the responsibility of cleaning Dal Lake.
The divisional commissioner asked the Director colleges to coordinate with Lakes Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) to clean the famed water body.
“Director colleges shall continuously deploy 20 volunteer students for Dal cleaning for 15 days. A schedule shall be furnished to VC LCMA,” Pole said.
Active participation by schools and colleges in ecological activities is a popular trend in European countries. The school administrations take students on an outing to a lake or picnic spot to inculcate in them a sense of responsibility towards a clean environment.
The divisional commissioner has also asked the school eco clubs to update their activities on the education department website.
“The activities of the school eco clubs shall not be limited within school premises instead outside as well viz, sanitation of wetlands, canals, public parks. Personal officer DSEK shall coordinate with the Pollution Control Board in this regard,” he said.
Advisor to Governor School Education R R Bhatnagar told The Kashmir Monitor that the administration has prioritized the participation of educational institutions in keeping a clean environment.
“Clean environment has been our priority and schools should actively participate in maintaining and keeping it clean. We are encouraging when every section of the society contributes to keeping the environment clean,” he said.
