Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, June 2: Lakes and Water bodies Development Authority (LAWDA) has failed to stop dumping of garbage into the prestigious Gilsar lake, raising eyebrows from locals.
Piles of garbage could be seen on the banks of Gilsar lake, in Nalibal area, with officials unmoved. “No action has been initiated against the offenders,” locals alleged.
A group of locals at Nalibal Nowshera accused the LAWDA of taking sides of the defaulters. “Despite repeated pleas to the authority they have turned deaf ears to this crucial issue”, they said.
Athar Javed, a local told Excelsior that LAWDA is in deep slumber and is not ready to spend a single penny on the lake.”If the lake would be cleaned, it will add beauty to the area and the land under encroachment would be used to increase its span,” he said.
He added that carcasses of dogs can be seen floating on the surface of the lake and held both civil society and Government are responsible for the deteriorating situation of the lake.
Residents claimed before 9 years, LAWDA used their machinery to clean the silt from the water body but now everyone is behind Dal lake.
A senior official at LAWDA wishing anonymity said that the department has already submitted PFR (Project Feasible Report) to the Government but there was no response from it. “The two lakes are also described as shrunken lakes which have drastically decreased in size over the time. Government has not enough funds for water body because LAWDA is already facing financial scarcity,” the official said.
He said that people have started building concrete structures and have started encroachments. “One can easily witness new constructions coming up every other day. It’s nothing else but corruption and vote bank politics,” the official said.
Enforcement Officer LAWDA Suhail Reshi told Excelsior that the authority has already submitted a report regarding the conservation of Gilsar and Khusal Sar lakes but till date, there has been no response from the Government.
However, an environmentalist said that it is a deliberate move to fill the water body and encroach more and more land. “This is an open violation of High Court orders and if this trend continues soon lake would turn into a playground,” he said.
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