CM visits Dal interior, directs removal of junk

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during tour of Dal lake in Srinagar on Thursday.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during tour of Dal lake in Srinagar on Thursday.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 12: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today visited the interiors of Dal lake to take stock of the de-weeding and cleaning process in the world famous lake.
The Chief Minister visited the Dal waters from Boulevard up to Nishat Ghats during which she took an on spot assessment of the lake conservation efforts by the concerned agencies.
The visit is in conformity with announcement of the Chief Minister on October 2 to visit the lake periodically to personally monitor its cleaning process. On October 2, she had visited Dal lake and expressed concern over the level of pollution and weeds.
Mehbooba directed immediate removal of junk from the shoreline of the lake at Nishat. She also directed further pacing up of de weeding and cleaning process. She said she would be personally monitoring the cleaning process of the lake.
She appealed people to play their role as conscientious citizens in the conservation and protection of the lake which, she said, holds a special heritage value for Jammu & Kashmir. She specifically appealed people to support Government’s efforts to restore Dal and avoid polluting the lake waters and not encourage in anyway encroachment of the Dal area.
On the occasion, Mehbooba was informed that lily growth was observed over five kilometres area of the lake and out of that around two kilometre area has been cleared off, both manually and through lily removal machines. She was also informed that mechanical interventions like water masters, weed harvestors besides lily removal machines have been pressed into service after her instructions on October 2.
Additionally, the Chief Minister was informed that, manual de weeding has been started in 32 sections of the lake with 500 trained labourers working every day.
Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Rohit Kansal; Commissioner-Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Hirdesh Kumar; Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed; Vice Chairman, LAWDA, Dr Abdul Hafiz Masudi; Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Dr. Shafqat Khan and other officers accompanied the Chief Minister during the visit.