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| DC Srinagar, Flood Control deptt authorities give 'damn' to HC directions on irrigation canals | | Not ready to remove encroachments from irrigation canal in city outskirts | | Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Feb 14: At a time when the Jammu & Kashmir High Court has asked the Irrigation and Flood Control department to remove encroachments from water bodies and irrigation canals, land mafia has occupied irrigation canal in the outskirts of the summer capital of the state.
As a result of the occupation of the irrigation canal thousands of people living in around one dozen localities are going through a tough situation. Since the irrigation canal has been occupied the water does not pass through it and has got accumulated in the compounds as well as backyards of the residents.
Despite making many representations to the higher ups there has been no relief to the people and they continue to suffer. The office of District Development Commissioner, Srinagar has also failed to come up to the expectations of the locals and as such there is no solution to the problems.
"As the irrigation canal has been occupied the water that would have passed through it has got accumulated in the compounds as well as backyards of the residents. This seems to be no problem for the people at helm and that is the reason they are not taking any corrective action in this matter," said a group of locals while sharing views with Early Times.
Thousands of people living in localities like Usmanabad, Ghalibabad, Mustafabad, Umarabad, Mehboob-ul-Alam Colony, Shalapora (left) and Maloora (left) are up against many odds since two to three feet of water is present in their compounds or backyards. The irrigation canal that has been occupied runs from Shalteng to Khawaja Bagh near Check-I-Mujgund and ultimately reaches the river Jhelum.
"It is quite ironical that the concerned legislator instead of solving the problem has added to the already compounding miseries. All the localities that have been affected due to the accumulated water fall under the Batmaloo assembly segment and are located hardly 10 kilometers from the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar," said the locals.
The locals said that when MLA Batmaloo Noor Mohammad Sheikh was apprised about the matter they were astonished to hear the response of the law maker. He proposed an alternate solution instead of impressing upon the authorities to remove the encroachments from the irrigation canal, locals added.
"The MLA said that the water would be diverted via some plastic pipes and there is no need for removing the encroachments from the irrigation canal. It seems that he has received hefty sum from the land mafia and that is why he is not pitching for removal of encroachments. The plan of draining water through pipes has failed but our MLA seems to be least bothered about it," said the locals. The locals said that concerned revenue authorities have done nothing to mark the land that comes under the irrigation canal and as such the land mafia is at will to encroach it according to their own wish. They said that the water has remained accumulated in the localities since the devastating deluge of September 2014 and since then it has remained stagnant irrespective of the weather conditions.
It would be in place to mention here that the local committee has wrote to Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and other stakeholders to take up the matter seriously so that there is some solution to this glaring problem. However, the concerned authorities are in slumber and they are not ready to bell the cat in this matter.
At the same time then Technical Officer with Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department has written to Superintending Engineer of Hydraulic Circle, Sopore to take up matter with District Development Commissioner, Srinagar and order for removal of encroachments from the irrigation canal. Executive Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control Sumbal has also shot a letter to the same officer in this regard but of no use. |
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