Environment Archives | Page 40 of 45

Flood Aftermath: ‘Winter appropriate time for Jhelum dredging’

December 5, 2015 Editor

The inaction by authorities to complete the dredging of river Jhelum and the spill channel so as to increase its carrying capacity, has become a cause of concern for local population. Srinagar city bore the brunt of last year’s floods as habitations on both sides of Jhelum were submerged for several weeks. On September 7 last year, the water level in Jhelum broke all records— crossing 33-feet at Sangam at Islamabad (Anantnag) in south Kashmir and 23-feet at Ram Munshi Bagh here. Due to the deluge, tons of silt from…

Illegal construction resumes in Pahalgam

November 28, 2015 Editor

Minister’s close aide flouts norms with impunity An influential hotelier has resumed construction work on a commercial complex in violation of the normsat Ganeshpora in Pahalgam allegedly at the behest of a senior cabinet minister. Ganeshpora along with 10 vicinities of Pahalgam like Gujrani Batkoot, Mawoora and Srechan were notified in 2013 and brought within the purview of Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA). Official sources in Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) told that the violator is using his political connections to evade action. “It’s open secret, he (violator) is violating the laid…

LAWDA floats over troubled waters

November 21, 2015 Editor

Illegal constructions go unabated Water channel filled with soil in Dal, officials in slumber In brazen violation of State High Court orders, massive encroachment is taking place in famed Dal Lake with ‘influential’ people extending encroachments in connivance with the officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA). Ironically a water channel in the interiors of the Dal stretching from Chowdhary Bagh to Daga Mohalla has been filled up with soil and structures have been started coming up there. According to local news gathering agency CNS, the officials from…

Proposal of ‘mini dams’ on Jhelum offshoots to avert 2014-like flood

November 20, 2015 Editor

The J&K Government is contemplating to build “mini dams” on tributaries of river Jhelum to offload pressure on the water body in extreme situations and avert the 2014-like floods in Kashmir in future. The Flood Control Department Kashmir has started a feasibility exercise in this regard and is mulling to rope in expertise at international level for construction of water storage facilities, within the provisions of Indus Water Treaty, to address Kashmir’s vulnerability to floods. Chief Engineer of the Department JavedJaffer said the storage facilities would handle additional discharge from…

Commissioner secys of 3 depts told to be present in court today

November 19, 2015 Editor

DAL LAKE CONSERVATION The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has sought personal appearance of the Commissioner Secretaries of the Planning, Finance and Housing and Urban Development Departments tomorrow to explain the conduct of the government as for the conservation of the Dal Lake is concerned. The directions were passed today by a division bench of Justice Hasnain Masoodi and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey after perusal of the compliance report submitted by Lakes and Waterways Development Authority vice-chairman Sarmad Hafiz, who was present in the court today. The Lakes and Waterways…

Ragpickers get tips on segregation of waste material

November 19, 2015 Editor

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) in association with a non-governmental organisation is training ragpickers for effective collection of segregated garbage. “The SMC in association with Chintan, an NGO involved in the betterment of environment through the solid waste management, has involved ragpickers assisted by the Municipal waste collectors for segregating waste at household level,” said an SMC official. The official said trainers from Chintan had already started providing training to the local waste collectors and ragpickers for effective collection of segregated garbage from households. He said it would help the…

Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project a BOOM Or a Disaster in Making

November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 Editor

Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project a BOOM Or a Disaster in Making The famous Kishanganga project has already casted its shadow over flora & fauna of district Bandipora, which includes the famous Wullar Lake, centuries old pines are being cut and all ironically done at the cost of development. Sane voices are worried that serene environ of Bandipora , Water bodies are being polluted, rare fish species are dying due to poisonous discharges from the project sites. All these activities are going under the noose of district administration, who is terming this disaster as…

Govt has ‘no funds’ to save Kashmir from floods

November 12, 2015 Editor

Jammu and Kashmir government seems to have not learnt any lessons from the devastating floods of 2014 as it has failed to carry out dredging in river Jhelum and removing encroachments on its banks despite passing of a year since the deluge wreaked havoc in Kashmir. Experts had warned the government to carry out dredging of the river and its tributaries on fast-track basis as the floods had brought in tonnes of silt. But as per officials in the irrigation and flood control department, the opportunity to carry out the…

Wular Lake shrinks as residents resort to encroachments

November 7, 2015 Editor

The Wular Lake has shrunk in size and its water carrying capacity has been reduced as government has failed to work out conservation measures. The illegal constructions, garbage dumping and massive silting of the lake has hampered the conservation efforts. Due to the widespread encroachments, the lake left many areas inundated in the floods last September. The massive silting of the lake and dumping of waste by local bodies and growing encroachments in absence of proper government monitoring has left the lake piolluted. As per official records 20 villages with…

Choked funds, choked water bodies

November 5, 2015 Editor

Without dredging, flood threat looms large as silt chokes rivers, flood channels After the calamitous flood of September 2014, the rivers and flood channels of Kashmir were choked by silt. In the official analyses that followed, diverse authorities recommended additional flood channels in order to avoid a recurrence of the devastating floods. All these plans remain confined to files. The Government of India (GoI) has not provided funds required for this urgent project, pushing Kashmir toward dangers. “Our department had proposed the development of a new flood channel in Kashmir…