Govt to crackdown on encroachers to protect water bodies

Vowing to take a “tough stand” against those found encroaching upon pathways and areas of water bodies, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that the government was serious in making concerted efforts to ensure clearing of the waterways to end fears of disasters in future.
Intervening to a question of CPM’s MY Tarigami on flood management during Question Hour in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said that there were many reasons for vanishing water bodies, including blockage of movement of water in the tributaries to Jhelum river and lakes in Kashmir. Water bodies that were continuously diminishing in size led to 2014 floods, she said. This needed to be checked with the involvement of all — people and government departments, she added.
“It will take us years to avoid any such (2014 floods) disaster in future. We are consuming water bodies,” Mehbooba told the Assembly. She said that her government was serious in checking the wrongdoings in this direction that would take some time.
Highlighting the government’s concern about the water bodies, including Jhelum, Tawi and Chenab rivers and Wular, Dal and other lakes in Kashmir, she said that many reasons had led to the reduced capacity of water bodies, which were being encroached upon by people as well as government agencies. Mehbooba also referred to the choked mouth of Wular Lake that was the main reason for blocking a free movement of water into the lake.
Earlier, Minister of State for Irrigation & Flood Control Farooq Ahmad Andrabi said that there was a lack of comprehensive flood management plan. He added that the government had taken immediate steps. He said that the Chief Minister in her recent meeting with the Union secretary for water resources had sought help for the state under the PM’s package. The package included an amount of Rs 2,083 crore for embankment and protection work on the tributaries to Jhelum river, Andrabi said.