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| RTI activist catches LAWDA on wrong foot | | Authority dumping sledge around Dal lake banks | |  Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 25: Lakes and Water Ways Development Authority (LAWDA) Srinagar has been caught on the wrong foot as the information provided by them under Right to Information Act (RTI) has exposed them for dumping sludge on the banks of Dal Lake.
As per documents available with Early Times, the LAWDA in its reply under office letter No : LDA/518/4843 Dated: 14.10.2015 has told an information seeker that department will provide information separately when the reason was sought about LAWDA vehicles dumping all the filth , sludge near banks of Dal Lake on foreshore road (Shalimar Crossing).
“The authorities of LAWDA could not even lie about this as we have filmed / photographed the trucks ,vehicles dumping the sludge near the banks of the Dal lake and this process is continuing since last more than 4 years” said Dr Mushtaq Khan RTI Activist from Srinagar
In reply to other points about functioning of the Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP’s) , the LAWDA officials have told the information seeker that all STP’s are operational , but the activists allege that this is wrong and misleading information. Dr Mushtaq Khan who has been working on this issue from last few years says that he has videos with him which prove that STP’s are defunct. “ Had the STP’s been working why would LWDA tucks and tankers dump all the filth and sludge near Dal lake’s banks at Shalimar ?” questions Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat , who has sought these details from LAWDA under RTI Act. Pertinently Early Times had carried a story on this issue in August last year and has been following this case since then. The vehicles of the department were caught red handed by Early Times reporter along with RTI Activists while they were unloading all the sludge and filth at the banks of Dal lake near Shalim ar .
As the continuous flow of sewage into the Dal had drastically affected the flora and fauna, the Government in the year 2000 had decided to construct STPs around the Dal lake to save it from further deterioration. The Lakes & WaterWays Development Authority (LAWDA) sublet the job of constructing three STP’s on the banks of Dal lake at Hazratbal , Laam and Habak to a Delhi-based firm at a cost of Rs 8.90 crores with a target to reduce 90 percent nutrient load to facilitate flow of treated effluent into Dal.
Before these STP’s were commissioned the experts had forewarned that the Fluidised Aerobic Bio-reactor (FAB) technology used in them, was not suitable for Kashmir where sub-zero temperatures persist during the winter months. Notwithstanding the warning of experts, sources said the political pressure forced the inclusion of the “outdated technology” at the cost of Dal lake.
As predicted by the experts, there has been massive proliferation of weeds and alarming deterioration of the lake’s water quality near the STPs as well .
With the passage of time these STP,s started to become dysfunctional as the sludge which was supposed to be ultra –filtered through various processes is now been loaded in the LAWDA vehicles and dumped in an open land located just on the banks of Dal Lake near Shalimar .
“We have been requesting the LAWDA authorities not to dump this filth near our residential houses as the area has been turned into a cesspool and emits obnoxious smell, the agricultural land has also been damaged due to flow of this dirt and filth into local paddy fields . Above all this sludge again moves into the Dal Lake , was this the purpose of spending crores on these STP’s ? questions Fayaz Ahmad a local resident of Shath Mohalla Shalimar
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