Indifference and greed lead to expected consequences
Tussle Ruins Dal Lake
Srinagar: As the ‘Incredible India’ tries to promote Kashmir as the prime tourist destination, at its heart a lingering conflict is polluting the waters and future of tourism in this Himalayan valley.
Dal Lake, one of the main attractions of Kashmir tourism is decaying as the tussle between government and houseboat owners’ hits stalemate over relocation of houseboats. Without a decision in view houseboats continue to function without sceptic tanks putting all the drainage directly into the water making Dal ever more polluted and prone to excessive weed growth and sedimentation.
“We have managed to curtail all the pollution coming into the Dal from catchment areas and the only direct toxic waste polluting Dal is from the houseboats”” Irfan Yaseen chairman Lakes and Waterways Developmental Authority said. According to Yaseen houseboats owners are reluctant to relocate to Dole Dam where government is promising free of cost centralized sanitation system.
LAWDA chief also said if houseboat owners do not comply with the government they are left with no option other than using law enforcement agencies to save the Lake.
“We are trying to make them understand that their livelihood is directly related with the wellbeing of the lake. We know it is an emotional issue for them, but they have to understand that it is the need of the hour,” said Yaseen whose agency with some success connected 70 houseboats from Nageen Lake with the sewer and by end of this year will connect all 150 odd houseboats from the second popular lake of the city with the drainage system.
“Social pressure on this sect of society holds key to success. We don’t want to use force and we hope that persuasion will do the trick,” Yaseen said.
But for the Houseboat Owners Association, government claims hold no standing as according to its president, Altaf Wangnoo the problem of pollution is with authorities who have “failed to relocate 60000 families of Dal dwellers. We are hearing for years that they will relocate these families from the Dal and will make it clean and free from encroachment; they are moving at a snail pace.”
Wagnoo said shifting to Dole dumb is out of question as it will ruin their business and property. “They have to only connect 130 houseboats with sewer, for that they can’t hold all of us ransom,” Wagnoo said. “We are always ready to help, but we seek government compensation if they want us to move back.”
Government on the other side wants to see tangible results by the end of next year in improving the situation of Dal Lake. “We have seen 20 years of turmoil and we have hope to bring Kashmir back to what it used to be,” Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister and union minister for new and renewable energy said on sidelines of a promotional golf event in Srinagar’s Royal Spring Golf Course on Saturday.