Demolition drive along banks of Kashmir’s water bodies begins

Authorities in Kashmir on Thursday kick-started a major drive to remove illegal structures on the banks of water bodies, demolishing dozens of such constructions here.

“Dozens of illegal structures on the banks of water bodies were demolished at several places in the city,” officials said.

They said the demolition drive was jointly conducted by Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Irrigation and Flood Control Department and Srinagar Development Authority with the active assistance of state police.

The drive was started simultaneously from Barzalla locality, where illegal constructions on the banks of Doodh Ganga were razed to the ground along with Cement Bridge near Qammerwari along the river Jhelum.

“The demolition drive has been started and nobody will be spared,” District Development Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah told PTI.

Seeking people’s cooperation, Shah said the drive would be intensified in the coming days.

Last month, the state High Court while hearing a PIL, seeking removal of illegal structures on the banks of the rivers and other water-bodies, directed the government to remove all encroachments on river Jhelum from its source in south Kashmir up to Uri in north Kashmir.

The Court, as an interim measure after the devastating floods in the Valley in September, has stayed all constructions on the Jhelum downstream Verinag spring, the main source of the river.

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