Malik Sajid
BANDIPORA:
The government’s plan to beautify the Wular Lake – the Asia’s largest Sweet water Lake -have fallen flat as the beautification drive has not been able to move beyond the announcements, visits and meetings.
Six years on government is yet to set a separate Wular Development Authority as promised to initiate the Plan of beatification and removal of encroachments from the Wular lake.
The Asia’s largest fresh water body and once the source of clean drinking water and income for most of the population in this North Kashmir district of Bandipora, the Wular Lake is now in its death throes.
Today the lake is just half of what it was 50-years-ago because of encroachments by both government and private agencies. 62,232 Kanal and 14 malras of Wular land (in Bandipora only) have turned into concrete during last one decade according to government survey.
Though the Central Government approved the state Governments beautification project under National Lake Conservation Action Plan worth 400 crore and released 140 cr but the beatification drive is yet to be started. Interestingly the government has failed to implement the orders of removing encroachments orders issued five years back in 2006.
“More than six years have passed since the government issued orders to
remove the encroachments around the lake from Bandipora side, no significant step has been taken by the government to beautify the Lake besides announces release of huge amount for the same” said a
social Worker Muhammad Ramzan Shaida.
After receiving a Wular conservation proposal worth Rs 400 crore from the state government, central government recently released a package of 140 Cr. for the development of Wular Lake but the massive encroachment of about 62,232 Kanlans of the lake are yet to be evacuated though orders have been issued four years back in 2003.
Environmental experts have constantly warned in the last few years that lake, which is Asia’s largest fresh water reservoir, is rapidly drying up. They believe that the lake has already entered the eutrophic stage, the process that stimulates the growth of aquatic plants resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen.
On the other hand, Illegal plantations within the lake are also ailing the water body. Activists warn that if action is not taken immediately to clean up and preserve the Wular Lake a piece of Kashmir history will be lost forever.
“If government is not taking timely steps to save the Lake, it will turn into to a large marshy area due to increasing encroachments and slitting” said Taha Mubashir an environmentalist.
A government document available with KSNN (No:-DCB/Estt/2010/4521-27,Dtd: -29-03-2010) informing the state government about the encroachments states that there are 62,232 Kanal and 14 Malras of Wular land occupied by various government agencies and farmers, statement further said that 92 structures have been raised illegally around Wular Lake before decades yet to be removed.
Among the 62,232 kanal and 14 malras of Wular land (in Bandipora district) 51090 kanal and 10 malras are under the illegal occupation of government departments like Forest, Rakhs, and Farms, social Forestry and Local Bodies.
Official source told Kashmir Scenario that government once tried to remove the encroachments (government order No 524/Fst of 2006 dated October 14, 2006) in year 2006 but failed to implement due the political interference
“People who have occupied the Wular land around Bandipora town are voters of particular political party which causes hindrances in implementing the orders in 2006, sources said.
The rest of the encroached area 8036 kanal and 12 malras are encroached by 600 occupants of 20 villages residing in proximity of the Wular Lake in the district. On the illegally occupied land, the Department of Forests, Rakhs, Farms and Local Bodies have raised plantation consisting entirely of willows including mostly species of Salix alba (Buta veer) and Salix fragilis (Kreal veer) leaves which according to experts is causing decline in water level in the lake.
“Besides causing pollution in the Lake, the plantations of Salix species is causing decline of the water level in the Lake” said Noor Muhammmad Rather a scholar in Environmental Studies, adding “to save the Wular, government should initiate de -weeding and cutting of these Salix plantations”.
Responding in a Public Interest Litigation which is already in the High Court, government in its recent compliance report submitted that willow trees are removed in phased manner and the present operation is in the offing at Bandipora forest division. “Felling has been completed in compartment-IV at Banyari and 91 percent task has been completed in compartment-II.
However experts said it consists of not more than one percent of the total plantation. “If pace of removing encroachments go like this then it will not be completed even in a decade,” Rather added.
Central government recently approved a grant of Rs 400 crore to the state government for cleaning up the Lake, but the government has not initiated any work through 140 crores has been released recently after which the minister of Forest and Environment Main Altaf visited the Lake along with experts and conduct an essential meeting to initiate the work on the project.
In January this year the minister said after a visit to the lake said “Government is establishing a separate Wular Development Authority
which will be chaired by Chief Minster to initiate the beatification of Wular Lake”
“In the near future the establishment of the Authority will be announced which will properly work under an executive head to clean the Lake from encroachments, pollution and siltation” he said. A year passed however no such step has been taken so far.
Refering towards the removal of mass encroachments, he said “all the encroachments will be removed after proper establishment of the Authority”
During the hearing of the PIL, senior advocate Zaffar Ahmad Shah had also suggested for creation of one authority dealing with all the water bodies in the state or a full-fledged department for preservation and conservation of all water bodies in the state.
An official of the forest department said there is shortage of staff in the department to go ahead with the removal of encroachments. “The matter was taken up with the planning and development department in the first instance who advised the forest department to make internal arrangement by deploying the staff of officers available on account of closure of integrity to watershed project,” he added.
He said the impact on lake ecology, impact of removal of willow trees on the natural hydrological and ecological process of the lake and other impacts like impacts on industry, impact of local livelihood has also been taken into account and they are taking help of experts from Kashmir University in this regard.