Suhail Bhat
Pulwama, June 9: In South Kashmir’s Pulwama Town, an irrigation canal locally known as “Doebi Koel” is bringing misery to the people as encroachments, siltation and disposal of waste have sharply declined its carrying capacity that causes frequent choking and inundation.
The locals of the area told Excelsior that the canal was once 30-40 feet wide and had pristine water but the unabated encroachment of its embankments and disposal of domestic and commercial waste has reduced it to 6-7 feet wide sewage drain. “The encroachments and dumping of entire neighbourhood waste have made this irrigation canal inefficient which has resulted in its blockage and chocking at several places,” said Assad Ullah, a local.
He said over the years, people have encroached upon it by constructing cowsheds, houses, and shops and alleged that the authorities have ignored the issue. “At all the commercial places including Murran Chowk, Malikpora and Rajpora people have raised illegal structures. Ironically, all this has happened under the nose of District Administration who shuts their eyes towards the issue,” he said.
The locals said the stream has never been cleaned and it is full of silt and waste.
“The stream has never been cleaned despite being in the Pulwama Town. The silt and waste accumulated in the stream have blocked its flow. Flood water cannot drain properly and creates water logging,” another local, Mushtaq Ahmad, said.
He said recently the choking of the canal lead to inundation of several shops at Pulwama market. “The canal gets chocked every now and then resulting in the inundation of our shops. We witness flooding of our shops every month. We even told authorities about this but to no avail. No one listens to our plight,” he said.
The locals alleged that Government was ruining the ecological balance by discharging all the sewage into the stream. “All the local drains have been diverted into the stream which has affected the aquatic and since all the neighborhood waste is being dumped into the canal it puts the entire population vulnerable to diseases,” they said.
The locals said that dumping of waste into its banks has resulted in the accumulation of heaps of plastic and polythene at several places. They said the garbage attracts stray dogs and birds that can be seen scavenging for food in the rubbish thereby, posing threat to the pedestrians.
Executive Officer of Pulwama Municipal Corporation said “the problem is that the canal comes under Irrigation and Flood Control and it is they who have to issue tenders for its cleaning”. He said that in every board meeting the Administration discusses the deteriorating condition of the canal and floats one or two proposals for its beautification.
“At every board meeting we discuss it and make proposals for it but they never get materialized due to lack of funds. Once we have necessary funds at our disposal the canal will be cleaned,” he added.
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