Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 21: The High Court has granted a week’s time to the Government to inform the court as to what steps have been taken to deal with the situation like 2014 devastating floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
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The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Puneet Gupta has granted one week time to the Government in order to file the composite compliance report on the issue.
Court directed the Government counsel to provide a copy of the report in advance to the amicus curiae so that he would submit the response to the compliance report within one week thereafter.
Earlier the Government counsel submitted to the bench that the compliance report in view of court directions is ready and sought a short time to submit the same before the registry of the court.
The court keeping in view the impending monsoon season and likelihood of 2014 like floods, had passed a slew of directions and sought details from the Government of J&K as to what steps have been taken to deal with such a situation.
The DB has sought a detailed affidavit detailing what steps they have taken in terms of the orders passed by the Court from time to time and directed the Government to furnish utilization certificates in respect of the amount to the tune of Rs 4,1323.17 lakhs released by Union of India for various projects undertaken in J&K.
Latest compliance report is being sought by the court in terms of order passed in the year 2016 in which the Court, had directed all the concerned Deputy Commissioners to ensure that no construction of any kind is raised near the water bodies within their territorial jurisdiction, which shall also include details in tabulated form qua the encroachments removed on the River Jhelum.
Govt has to inform the court by way of filing an Action Taken Report detailing therein preventive measures the authorities at the helm of affairs have taken and are also envisaging in order to deal with the precarious issue of floods in Kashmir, in view of the impending monsoon season.
The report of Government must indicate the steps taken regarding demarcation, in respect of the network of the streams, lakes and wet and are inter connected with the River Jhelum as the court has observed from an examination of the detailed report that one of the major causes for the flooding of the river Jhelum was the disruption in the network of streams which are inter connected with not only the river but also the lakes and the wetlands.
The court as such had appointed Commissioner/ Secretary to Government, Forest Department J&K as the nodal authority to ensure that the demarcation is carried out by all the agencies and had directed that the demarcation be carried out using the latest GIS technology so that it would be clear as to what is supposed to be the area covered by each of the National, Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, conservation Reserves and Wetland Reserves and what exists in reality.
The Commissioner/ Secretary to the Government, Public Health Engineering Irrigation and Flood Control Department was asked to submit its plan of action and action taken in this regard.
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