Category: Environment

Environment

The shrinking Wular lake a matter of concern

Editor

All is not well with Wular Lake in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, which has been identified as one of the 26 Ramsar sites in the country. Over the past many decades, it has suffered heavily due to siltation, conversion of 40 per cent of the lake area into agricultural land, pollution from fertilisers, highly degraded catchment area and encroachment along its banks. These factors have reduced the size of the lake from 157 sq km in 1911 to 86 sq km in…

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Jhelum embankment stretch crumbles at Shivpora

Editor

A large stretch of embankment of river Jhelum at Shivpora here crumbled due to rains last night. Shivpora was one of the worst affected areas during devastating floods in September 2014. Authorities had plugged breaches, however due to rains, a vast stretch of embankment has caved in. The locals mince no words to accuse the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department of failing to strengthen the damaged embankment. “The authorities are focusing on dredging and have failed to permanently repair the embankments,” said a group of locals pointing towards cracks…

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Rs 399 cr to be spent for restoration of Jhelum

Editor

Embankments along Jhelum which the swollen river breached in 2014 causing devastating floods, will be restored and other remedial measures taken up at a cost of Rs 399 crore over the next two years, a senior government official said. “Rs 140 crore will be set aside for land and structure acquisition, Rs 40 crore for building two bridges, Rs 35 crore for dredging and the rest for allied works,” Commissioner Secretary Public Works Rohit Kansal said. Kansal, who took stock of the progress of dredging work of river Jhelum and…

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Deadly reminders: J&K on shaky ground

Editor

• Ominous Signs: From 7 tremors in 2010, the number of earthquakes felt in the State reached 27 in 2015 • 105 minor and major tremors have jolted J&K since 2009 The graph of earthquakes hitting Jammu and Kashmir has reached all time high with 27 tremors felt in the state last year. As per the official data, 105 minor and major tremors have jolted the state since 2009. The threat of earthquake looms large in the state, particularly in the areas coming under Seismic Zone V. As per the…

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SMC messes up solid waste management at Achan

Editor

Failure of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to undertake scientific disposal of solid waste of Srinagar at Achan garbage dump has pushed the summer capital on the verge of an environmental disaster. At a time when experts have raised red flag over feasibility of much-hyped waste-to-energy project at Achan, the SMC has failed to put in place mechanism for scientific disposal of the solid waste. On an average 400 metric tons of solid garbage is produced per day in Srinagar. Taking cognizance of unscientific methods to dispose of waste at Achan,…

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Declining snowfall triggers concern

Editor

Global warming coupled with overexploitation of resources is impacting Kashmir’s weather pattern and snowfall timings, an official report has said, blaming “unplanned urbanization, encroachment of wetlands and rapid deforestation” for these alterations. The official report titled ‘State Action Plan on Climate Change’ mentions that Kashmir Valley is recording “unusual shift in snowfall timings” as the summer capital (Srinagar) is witnessing less snowfall in December and January—ideally considered as peak winter months with temperature dipping below freezing point. However for the past couple of years, these months have witnessed less or…

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Dredging from Jhelum, spill channel outsourced

Editor

The Irrigation and Flood Control (IFC) Department, Kashmir, has outsourced dredging from the Jhelum and its spill channel to a private company, which is expected to begin the work later this week. The department is aiming to reach a target of dredging eight lakh cubic metres of debris from the river by the end of March. The department has so far dredged six lakh cubic metres of soil and silt from the river and its spill channel and expects to dredge further before the water level rises again, Mir Javed,…

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HC miffed over collusion between LAWDA, police, mafia over encroachment on Dal Lake

Editor

Disapproving “collusion between LAWDA, mafia and police,” the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday observed that a comprehensive workable plan is required to do away with the encroachments in Dal lake. “The court in order to save the Dal Lake from further encroachments and to have workable plans of removing the existing encroachments, would require to have holistic and comprehensive plans,” a division bench of Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Ali Muhammad Magrey observed while hearing a Public Interest Litigation on preservation of Dal lake.  The bench urged that…

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Wullar’s voyage from wetland to woodland

Editor

World Wetlands Day Approximately 13 tons of solid waste is dumped per day on Wullar banks  Wetlands play an important role in keeping the ecological processes healthy. They support industries such as agriculture, fisheries and tourism by supplying valuable source of water for irrigation and domestic use, fodder for domestic livestock, maintaining water quality, providing habitat for commercial species and having cultural and recreational values. Wetlands host a huge variety of life, protect the coastlines, and provide natural defences (sponges) against river flooding or storm surges and store carbon dioxide…

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In absence of civic bodies, state loses Rs 169cr funds

Editor

Centre also refuses to release Rs 125 cr allocated to JK this fiscal The cash-starved Jammu and Kashmir has lost over Rs 169 crore under the 13th Finance Commission allocation due to the non-conduct of urban local bodies elections which have been pending in the state for the last six years. Apart from this, the Union Government has refused to release grants to the state against the allocation of Rs 125.30 crore during the current fiscal year in the absence of duly constituted municipalities. The information about the allocations was…

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