Category: Environment

Environment

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

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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

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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

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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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Keep Srinagar clean or will dump trash in Sectt – National Green Tribunal

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Lambasting the Jammu and Kashmir Government for the municipal waste scattered across Srinagar, the National Green Tribunal today warned that it would order dumping of all trash in the Secretariat complex if its orders were not implemented within a week. Asserting that it would hold top officers, including the chief secretary, personally responsible for ensuring compliance of its orders passed a year ago, the green panel took the state administration to task over the delay in setting up of a waste-to-energy plant in Srinagar despite its order. The delay was…

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Encroachments eat up Aanchar lake

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With authorities failing to take measures for conservation of Aanchar lake here, unscrupulous persons are having a field day to encroach upon the water body and undertake constructions on it. In absence of any regulation, constructions of several structures is in full swing on the banks of Aanchar lake at Upper Soura. A vast stretch of land near the lake overlooking the Kil Khan lane is abuzz with construction activity. “Though constructions are prohibited in the area, however the officials have failed to take any measures to prevent encroachments and…

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Quake in Himalayan region overdue, warns experts

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India’s Himalayan Region is highly vulnerable to earthquakes and according to an estimate by the World Bank, in a year, about 1000 small and big earthquakes strike the country. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in an assessment found that almost 59 per cent of India is “vulnerable to moderate or severe seismic hazard”. Startlingly it also found that most buildings in sub-urban areas are “non-engineered and built without adhering to earthquake resistant construction principles… Traditional houses are being replaced with modern reinforced cement concrete (RCC) buildings, often without compliance…

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Dry winter spells doom for summer

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With the 40-day coldest spell of winter (Chilai Kalaan) nearing its end on a dry note in Kashmir, experts have warned of serious consequences for tourism, power generation, water supply, health, agriculture and allied sectors. Tourism sector has been badly hit for the lack of snow at Kashmir’s twin ski resorts- Gulmarg and Pahalgam. The chances of snowfall are usually most during ‘Chillai Kalan’, which began on December 21 and ends on January 31. However, with ‘Chillai Kalan’ in its fag end, Kashmir continues to experience dry weather. Except for…

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As Chilai Kalaan basks in sun, experts sound alarm

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On January 18, at minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, Srinagar for the first time this winter was colder than Pahalgam which recorded a warmer minus 2.7. However the following day temperature in the summer capital soon zoomed to 13 degrees way above the historical average of 5 degrees. These are some of the anomalies that are becoming normal to changing weather pattern in Kashmir. This year Chilai Kalaan, the traditional 40 days harshest period of winter, is basking in sunlight. The India Meteorological Data (IMD) for the week between 07 to…

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Identify officials who allowed constructions in, around Dal Lake; High Court to SVO

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The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the State Vigilance Organization Kashmir to file a comprehensive report about the officials, who allowed illegal constructions in and around Dal Lake, and accumulated assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Underscoring that some progress appears to have been made by VOK in registering cases against LAWDA officials who prima facie appear to have facilitated illegal constructions within Lake and its prohibited area, a division bench of High Court said the “investigation is required to be taken to its logical end…

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5.8 Magnitude quake to hit Valley soon, seismic survey, State ‘most susceptible’ to quakes, 50 tremors since 2014

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A moderate-intensity earthquake jolted the Kashmir valley in the middle of the night but caused no damage or casualties in the region. An official of the state Meteorological Department said the tremor was of 5.8 magnitude and its epicentre was located at a depth of 220 km in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The earthquake was recorded at 1.34 am on Tuesday night, the official said. It was the sixth tremor to jolt the Kashmir region in the past one month and seventh since October last year. There were,…

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