* DC, CEs, CEOs summoned
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 5: Taking serious note of apathy on part of the Government officials in maintaining the safety and purity of drinking water source, High Court has directed all Government functionaries to inform it as to how many drainage systems, waste pipes and toilets have been constructed on the water bodies and tributaries.
Putting the responsibility on all the departments and agencies for collecting such data, the Division Bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Rashid Ali Dar directed the concerned authorities to clearly state how many drainage systems have been built by them which end up untreated in the water body and how many households sewage / waste pipes drop into the river and how many toilets have been constructed on the river or its tributary rivulets.
Taking the suo-moto cognizance of media reports alleging lack of concern of the concerned Government officials to the pollution of the water of Nalla Doodhganga, especially at the spot where Water Filtration Plant is situated at Kralapora in Tehsil Chadoora, District Budgam, which supplies potable water to lakhs of consumers in the Districts of Budgam and Srinagar, the Court in order to collect the relevant data, information and opinions from the concerned departments and agencies directed the Registry to summon the Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Srinagar; Chief Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department, Srinagar; Chief Engineer, Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED), Srinagar; Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings Department, Srinagar; Deputy Commissioner, Budgam; Chief Executive Officer, Municipal Committee, Chadoora; Chief Executive Officer, Municipal Committee, Charar-i-Sharief; Director, Rural Sanitation Department, Srinagar; Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Srinagar; Chief of the Forest Protection Force, Budgam; Chief Executive Officer, Economic Reconstruction 4 CE, Agency, Rambagh, Srinagar; Director Fisheries Department, Srinagar; Superintendent, Bone & Joint Hospital, Barzulla, and Chief Executive Officer, Yousmarg Development Authority.
“These departments and authorities shall file their respective responses pertaining to their respective sphere of working. Such responses, supported by duly sworn in affidavits, shall be filed by the next date with advance copies thereof to the Amicus”, DB directed.
Court in order to facilitate these authorities to file effective responses, directed the Registrar Judicial to furnish copies of this order to each of them. “Keeping in view the scenario that fax or net facilities may not be available in the offices of all these authorities, the Registrar Judicial shall arrange to serve the notices along with copies of this order through the process serving agencies of the District Courts, Srinagar and Budgam”, reads the order.
Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar and Budgam, have been asked to depute two process servers each to collect the notices with copies of this order from the Registry of the High Court and to serve the same on the addressees thereof against proper receipts within the shortest possible time.
Apart from filing their written statement as to the allegations / facts / figures / factors stated in the news report, Court directed the concerned authorities to inform the court as to what steps were taken by them in response to redress the problems identified, and what steps according to their opinion would need to be taken by them to solve the problems in question, giving all necessary details.
“This Court does not have any means of its own to verify the veracity of the facts and statements disclosed and made in the news report, nor does it have any information as to the actions, if any, taken by the concerned authorities / agencies to attend to and address the problems identified therein”, court mentioned in the order.
Court said if the news report is true then obviously it is attributable to the lackadaisical conduct and approach of the officers and officials of several Governmental departments / agencies towards their respective duties including the departments Irrigation and Flood Control Department, the Public Health Engineering Department, the District Revenue Department headed by Deputy Commissioner, Municipal Committees of Chadoora and Charar-i-Sharief, Rural Sanitation Department, Forest Department, the Economic Reconstruction Agency, Fisheries Department and Yousmarg Development Authority.
The Court may in future, said, like to seek assistance from the Department of Gardens and Parks for beautification of segments of the Bunds of the river at some places, on the same pattern as was got done on the convent side of the Jehlum Bund.
Follow our WhatsApp channel