Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 10: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Rattan Singh and others seeking demolishing or removal of the encroachments on the water bodies /wetland reserves and other reserves in the State, Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat today granted two weeks time to the Divisional Commissioner Jammu for filing reply with the direction that in case of non-compliance he shall appear in person on next date of hearing.
In the PIL, it has been submitted that State of J&K recently battled one of worst floods and environmentalists have blamed encroachment of the wetlands in the State especially in the Valley as the main reason for the devastation of life and property.
“Notwithstanding the fact that wetlands play an important role in preventing ecological catastrophe, majority of the marsh lands are not receiving any attention resulting into their continuous shrinking and making the State more prone to the disasters”, the PIL said, adding “the height of the insensitivity towards this vital aspect can be gauged from the fact that no particular department has so far been assigned the task of conservation and preservation of these wetlands”.
As per the records, total area of the State is about 2, 22,236 Sq. Kms and about 3651 wetlands having area of 391501 Hectares and 222111 Sq.Kms of geographic area of wetlands exist in the State.
“Some of the wetlands like Surinsar, Mansar, Hokersar, Wular and Tsomoriri have been included in the list of wetlands of international importance under Ramsar convention. Surinsar, Mansar, Wular and Sobrari lakes have been included in the Prime Minister’s Construction Package. However, the area of such wetlands is decreasing day by day due to the encroachment and other allied factors”, the PIL said.
As per BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society), the floods in Kashmir were nothing but a manmade disaster as Dal lake has shrunk to half its size and Wular Lake is just 10% as compared to 20,000 ha. “Five wetlands, we had, in Pargwal, Kokerian, Sangral, Gharana and Nanga did exist in Jammu. All these are gone without a trace except a patch of Gharana and Sangral while Nanga stands altogether vanished. Kokerian and Pargwal are encroached hard to make head or tail of them”, the petitioner said.
“Over the last 30 years nearly 50% of the wetlands in the Kashmir valley have been encroached upon or severely damaged beyond restoration due to reckless developmental activities with no regard for nature conservation”, the PIL said.
After hearing Senior Advocate MK Bhardwaj with Advocate Karan Sharma appearing for the PIL whereas AAG Seema Shekhar and Government Advocate GS Thakur, DB granted two weeks time for filing response with the direction that if the reply is not filed during this period, Divisional Commissioner Jammu shall appear in person on next date.
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