LAWWDA fails to develop ‘Dole-Demb’ for HB relocation

Irfan Tramboo

Srinagar, Jan 4: Even after direction of the High Court, the Lakes and Water Ways Development Authority (LAWWDA) and concerned authorities have utterly failed in developing the ‘Dole-Demb’ for the relocation and the resettlement of the houseboat in Dal lake.
The official apathy is such that the plan shared for the relocation of houseboats with the stakeholders has not been implemented by the authorities in any way and there is no more than 2 per cent of works that has been carried out by the LAWWDA.
Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association (KHBOA) told Excelsior that the LAWWDA had many years ago shared a presentation and plan for the resettlement at ‘Dole Demb’ but no development has been carried out there so far.
In order to assess the progress work, the major portion of which was carried out as per the VC of LAWWDA, a joint team comprising stakeholders and the officials of the various other departments visited the spot and it was observed that not even 2 per cent of work was carried out there.
“…for the relocation of houseboats, no development of the site was found in any manner enabling houseboats to shift,” Shamim Ahmad Shah, a stakeholder at the KHBOA told the Excelsior.
The team comprised of Director Tourism Kashmir, Chief Town Planner Kashmir, Superintending Engineer, J&K LDA, Deputy Director Tourism Kashmir (Registration), Collector Land Acquisition, J&K LDA, Executing Engineer Lake Division No. 1st, 2nd, Mechanical Division, J&K LDA, Executive Engineer, PHE Department and Executive Engineer, PDD.
Followed by a meeting held on December 23rd hosted by KCC&I regarding the issue of relocation and rehabilitation of houseboats in the Dal lake, it was agreed that the plan of development of Dole Demb as per the presentation and the plan shared by the LAWWDA over the years was on most modern lines and it was decided that the process of relocation and simultaneous rehabilitation is very important.
“We told them that the development of the Dole Demb has to be done accordingly,” Houseboat owner, Yaseen Tuman told Excelsior.
However, the affairs are totally opposite with regard to the resettlement and rehabilitations of those associated with the houseboat industry.
The stakeholders are alleging that there are deliberate delays on the part of the concerned authorities as they keep on changing their plans. “Initially, it was a realignment plan that they came up with, then they came up with the plan of relocation and now in that too, they are not showing any progress whatsoever,” Tuman added.
Pertinent to mention here, in years 2005 the realignment plan beautifully visualized by the LAWWDA authorities was set in motion and they had a plan of realigning around 20 houseboats on the frontlines of the Dal. Then, interestingly, the authorities came up with the realignment plan in 2008-the plan which has not seen the light of the day as yet.
The KHBOA said they impress upon the authorities to develop the spot fixed for the relocation as per the plan that has been shared with them over the years. “It should be done as per the plan so that the houseboats are relocated/ resettled there so as to safeguard them to the satisfaction of houseboat owners,” they added.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here