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| Govt apathy leads to premature death of Wular Lake in Bandipora | | | S Tahir-ul Haq
Early Times Report
BANDIPORA, Jan 28: The state government has failed to dismantle the encroachments along the banks of Wular Lake, due to which the glory of this famous lake is degrading and has left the general public disappointed to a large extent.
Sources said that although there were clear directions from High Court regarding removal of encroachments along the banks of water bodies like Wular Lake the concerned authorities have failed to restore its glory.
"Wular Lake is being considered as Asia's second largest fresh water body, which seems on paper only and practically the mafia hand in glove with the concerned department have grabbed the land in pennies," sources told Early Times.
Sources said that right from Watlab Sopore, the new illegal structures have come up along the banks of Wular Lake as encroachers have occupied a patch of water body who sell it to another party for fishing purposes. "The mafias has not only encroached it but are polluting the area and has put this Wullar lake at stake. Unfortunately the authorities concerned are acting like mute spectators and this has created a state of confusion among the general public," sources said.
Sources said that one of the biggest problems faced by Wullar Lake is silting. They said that every year thousands of tonnes of silt are deposited in the lake, which is constantly decreasing its depth and water absorbing capacity.
"Local residents of various areas are dumping sewerage and other waste products in the lake, and due to lack of proper drainage the polluted water enters into Wullar with damaging consequences," said sources.
The local residents of Watlab said that, the beauty of Wular Lake is beyond description of words and the lake was spread over an area of 189 sq km and its depth was about 14 metres which is quite contrary now.
They said that this lake was not just the pride of Bandipora but of entire Kashmir as it is one of the largest fresh water lakes of Asia. But since many decades Wular Lake is dying because of administrative apathy and extensive pollution and encroachments.
"The irony is that successive governments have ignored Bandipora and its elected representatives have failed to take up its (Wular Lake) case in a desired manner," locals said.
The authorities have been unable to strictly implement Wetlands Conservation and Management Rules as notified by the Centre, which prohibit constructions and industrial units in the vicinity of the water body and dumping of wastes into it, with the result in steady increase of polluting industries along its banks, they added. |
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