Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 16: Srinagar city and parts of Budgam district are facing a major flood threat due to disagreement over a minor issue between two Government Departments over the digging and dredging of a 5 kilometre stretch of Srinagar-Baramulla flood channel near Hokersar wetland in the outskirts of Srinagar.
The Department of Irrigation and Flood Control had started digging a 5 kilometre flood spill channel between Shareefabad-Narbal in 2010 so as to save flooding of parts of district Budgam and silting of Hokersar wetland.
The flood waters are playing havoc with the wetland that as per Wetland Management of the Wildlife Department has shrunk from 13.75 square kilometres to 5 square kilometres in past two decades. However, the spill channel has brought the Irrigation and Flood Control and Wildlife Department at logger heads over a minor issue and work has been stopped since 2010.
The I&FC officials warn that if the portion of the channel is not dug immediately, Srinagar will submerge in floods as the water will backflow, besides the wetland will also suffer major damage.
Farmers of Bemina, Hakurmulla, Soibugh, Hanjak, Abanshah, Haji Bagh, Dharmuna, Gotpora, Arat and Narbal are suffering huge losses for past one decade due to lack of dredging. The water logging in these villages has left thousands of acres of paddy land useless.
Wildlife officials say that they are not against the digging of flood spill channel but it should not be at the cost of wetlands. “I&FC Department is considering dredging from the point of view of money. We have given them the proposal for restoring the channel through the wetland: slew gates, which will control water flow, treatment plant and depth of the channel should not exceed to that of wetlands depth were some points recommended by us,” Mohammad Maqbool Rather, Wildlife Warden Hokarsar Wetlands, said.
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