Over Rs 650 crore ‘wasted’ on Dal Lake conservation since 2005

1 min read
Dal

By Mudassir Kuloo

Srinagar, Jun 02: Even as the government has spent over Rs 650 crore since 2005, there appears no improvement in the condition of Dal Lake.
An official of the Housing and Urban Development Department said the money was spent on three conservation projects in the last 13 years.
“There has been no improvement in its condition,” the official said.
The official said around Rs 10 crore was spent on dredging in the last three years.
An amount of Rs 4.06 crore was spent on cleaning, dredging and de-weeding during 2015-16, Rs 3.54 crore in 2016-17, and Rs 2.77 in 2017-18.
The government had framed three centre and state-sponsored major projects designed to lease fresh life to Dal Lake.
A major project ‘National Lake Conservation Programme’ was started in 2005 costing Rs 298.76 crore.
The second conservation and management programme ‘Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme’ (PMRP) of 2010 costing Rs 356 crore.
The third project was for the rehabilitation of the families dislocated from Dal and Nigeen Lake.
The official said the High Court has also expressed unhappiness over the condition of the lake.
Expressing dissatisfaction over “unchanged” ground reality of Dal Lake, the High Court earlier this week said the objective of de-weeding, removal of encroachments and pollution check in the water body has not been achieved so far.
The Court observed that despite many directions, nothing tangible has been achieved with regard to doing away with the ills plaguing Dal Lake.
“De-weeding, pollution control and removal of encroachments are far from satisfactory,” the Court observed.
Amicus Curie and Senior Counsel, Z A Shah has also expressed his concern over the non-compliance to the Court orders with regard to safeguarding and restoration of the lake to its original position.
Minister for Housing and Urban Development Department Sat Sharma said that government was taking measures to “restore the pristine glory” of the lake.
“I recently took over the minister of HUDD. I can assure you that government is serious to preserve Dal Lake. Give us some more time, there will be a visible change,” Sharma said.
Dal Lake is the second largest lake in the state and is divided into four basins Small Dal, Big Dal, Gagribal, and Nigeen.
The environment lovers have expressed dismay over deteriorating condition of the lake and government’s “non-seriousness” in preserving it.
In a research on Dal Lake conducted by Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the Earth Sciences Department at Kashmir University said, “32% of the lake falls under severe degradation, 48% under medium degradation while as 20% of the lake waters are relatively clean.”
The study says that lake has shrunk from “31 to 24 square km from 1859 to 2014”.

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