To promote ecotourism, the J&K Government is going to construct a 21.4-km-long boulevard around Wular lake — one of the largest freshwater lakes in South Asia.
The Rs 500-crore proposal for the 350-foot-wide boulevard from Bakshibal to Haritar village along the banks of the Wular is likely to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Ecology next month.
“The construction of the 21.4-km-long boulevard along the third-line flood protection bund from Bakshibal to Haritar village is under the active consideration of the government and a proposal for it will be submitted to the Centre soon,” said Mian Javaid, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wular Conservation and Management Authority.
The boulevard will have two roads which will be 50 feet wide and three green tracks 100 feet wide each on the two sides and one 50 feet wide in the middle to dissect the two roads.
The estimated cost of the phase-1 of the proposed Wular Boulevard is Rs 500 crore, including the cost of dredging of 4-5 sq km of the lake, he said.
“The muck generated as a result of dredging operations will be used in widening the embankments around the lake which will then be turned into the boulevard,” he said, while terming it a dream project.
The boulevard will have ecotourism tracks with green belts and ornamental avenue plantations, he said.
Located between Bandipora and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir, around 45 km from here, the Wular Lake is known as the mother of all lakes in Kashmir due to its huge size. It is about 16-km long and 9.6-km wide with ill-defined shores.
However, the area of the lake, which is the only drainage for four main rivers and three main lakes of the Kashmir valley, has shrunk from 217 sq km to 24 sq km in the past few decades.
Officials said the government would approach the Dredging Corporation of India for taking up dredging of the severely affected 27.5 square km of the lake to revive its beauty.
The government has erected 1,159 geotagged boundary pillars, delineating the lake boundary from the adjoining areas.
State to submit Rs 500-crore proposal to Centre for Wular Boulevard
