‘Dal soil not fit for construction purposes’
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, July 2: As Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) starts work on the ‘Dole Demb’ project in the Dal Lake, the Dal dwellers are accusing the Authority of resorting to violation by bringing in earth filling from outside the Lake and resorting to landfilling at some spots.
The dwellers said that the soil is available with the LAWDA in large quantity just in the peripheries of the Lake, but the Authority preferred to get it from the outside.
The LAWDA has started the works at Nishat-NPL Bund which connected downtown area of the city with the Mughal Gardens. The route was earlier known as ‘Rajsathu’.
“They had a lot of land available there and could have gathered the soil used for the construction purposes at the Lake, what is the need of getting the earth filling from outside and that too in a huge quantity; there is a lot of soil well within their reach,” Ghulam Rasool of Dal Dwellers Forum told Excelsior.
He said that as per the court direction and even as per Revenue laws no foreign body-in this case, earth filling-can be brought into the premises of the Lake. “There is no need for whatever they are constructing at the spot where the Rajsathu meets with the main road; they are encroaching the space and are calling us the encroachers,” he said.
However, the LAWDA has a different take on the issue. It said that the works are going on in accordance with the court orders and that the soil available around the Lake is not fit for the works that are to be carried out.
“That soil is not fit for the works that are to be carried out. It has to be a good soil fit to hold on to the ground,” Tufail Mattoo, VC LAWDA told Excelsior.
He said that the material from construction has to be brought from outside and we cannot use what is not up to the standard.
It is to be mentioned here that there was a PIL in the court with regard to the rehabilitation of those dwelling in Dal. Later, there was a judgment by the court which directed that the houseboats be shifted to spot known as ‘Dole Demb’.
In light of those directions, the work on the Dole Demb was not executed in the last several years; however, it has been kicked off with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Rs 29.36 cr.
As a part of the project, the LAWDA will be constructing the park, shelter sheds, proper drainage system, piped water facility, electricity for every houseboat including several other things, including proper bio-digesters for each of the houseboat.
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