Thanks to a timely reminder from Governor NN Vohra, the authorities have woken up to cleaning the disappearing Dal Lake in Srinagar by accelerating its de-weeding. Nearly half the iconic Dal Lake was invisible due to unchecked growth of weeds and illegal constructions that have over the years grown bacause of vote bank politics.
Concerned that a large chunk of the lake has become invisible, Vohra has been asking Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Secretary BB Vyas and other officers to take immediate remedial steps.
After personally visiting various areas of the lake in July, Vohra expressed concern over the decay of the world famous lake and warned that if de-weeding in the most photographed water body is not executed on 24/7 basis, the alluvial process will lead to a significant portion of the lake being converted into a land mass as has happened to the other important Wular Lake in Kashmir.
The Centre had from time to time sanctioned hundreds of crores of rupees for cleaning the Dal Lake but no one knows where and how the money was spent.
Before the government offices moved to Jammu for the winter, Vohra flagged off the cleaning and de-weeding operations in the Dal Lake. This drive was launched jointly by the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) and Srinagar Municipal Corporation.
Addressing labourers and volunteers on the occasion, the Governor observed that the Dal Lake must be preserved and protected at all costs. Under no circumstances must this enchanting water body be polluted or lose its visual attraction because of the profuse weed growth which has come up in large parts of the lake, he said.
Vohra observed that because of the reduction in the pace of de-weeding work in the past two years, the water surface has been rapidly encompassed by lotus and other growth resulting in more than half the surface not being visible at all.
He said that for saving the lake, the pace of every element of the ongoing work will have to be enhanced twenty fold and at least a dozen harvesters and skimmers will need to be put into operation on virtually round-the-clock basis, besides very significantly stepping up manual de-weeding.
The Governor observed that the sewage flow into the lake is one of the damaging factors for the alarming weed growth and suggested urgent re-alignment of house boats along the Kohnakhan water front and connecting house boats in Nageeen to the sewerage network.
Vohra is perhaps the first Governor to undertake inspection of the infested parts of the lake, particularly around the Char-Chinari, a tiny island in the Dal Lake which earlier had four Chinar trees. Vohra discussed issues relating to the rejuvenation and upkeep of the famous Chinar trees and suggested urgent steps for the maintenance of this heritage spot. In this context, he asked the Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar to have the dead trees removed and new trees planted in consultation with experts in the Forest Department.
The major challenge before the authorities was outgrowth of lily patches spread over 5 sq km of the lake area. The authorities have engaged about 500 labourers to clean these patches. Vohra is personally monitoring the Dal cleaning operations.
The Governor had earlier in June also raised the issue by expressing serious concern about stoppage of all development work in the Dal Lake for the past several days and observed that the water body is looking more infested than ever in the past.Vohra, along with the Chief Secretary and other concerned officers, undertook an inspection of the Dal, particularly traversing the central and the Zakoora end of the beautiful water body. It was after his visit to the worst affected areas that things have started moving with the concerned officers realising that they would be made answerable if the condition of the lake was allowed to further deteriorate.