Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 30: An amount of Rs 239 crore has been spent on restoration of Dal Lake in Srinagar in the last five years.
This information was tabled in the Upper House of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha) on March 29 by Nityanand Rai, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India, in reply to an unstarred question of BJP MP from Jammu and Kashmir, Er Gulam Ali.
The Union Minister told the Rajya Sabha that the outcome of the funds spent resulted in improved water quality, effluent parameters within permissible limits, development of jetties/viewing decks/floating jetties/parks etc., improving the livelihoods of Dal dwellers and other locals, mechanical de-weeding/skimming lily/floating garden extraction, aerators for circulation of water along shore line of lake, collection of solid waste (9-10 MT approx) from hamlets within the lake and the houseboats and surface of the lake waters and its disposal, sewerage network of 863 houseboats inside Dal-Nigeen lake, proper supervision and monitoring of conservation works and construction activities etc.
The BJP MP asked the Union MoS Home to state how much funds were sanctioned, year-wise during the last five years, for preservation of lakes in Jammu and Kashmir; funds spent for preservation of each lake in Jammu and Kashmir and area-wise recovery of lake’s area; details of funds utilised and funds unspent, funds spent on Dal Lake and outcome of the funds spent in restoring the lake; and proposals for Gharana wetland, Mansar, Sruinsar and others lakes of Jammu region.
To this, the Minister of State for Home Affairs replied that Rs 47603.818 lakh have been sanctioned/released till date while Rs 28114.5962 lakh have been expended/utilised and Rs 19519.0438 lakh are unspent.
“An area of 6.5 square kilometres of Dal and Nigeen Lakes has been cleared with the amount utilised,” he said.
Further, the MoS Home said that there are certain lakes and wetlands in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, which are under the jurisdiction of Department of Forest, Ecology & Environment. Among them are Wular Lake, the Minister said, adding that for this lake, an amount of Rs 17476.25 lakh has been sanctioned in the last five years.
For other wetlands and lakes maintained by the Department of Forest, Ecology & Environment, he said, an amount of Rs 3048.341 lakh has been sanctioned/released in the last five years.
He added that with the sanctioned amount, an area of 4.35 square kilometres of Wular Lake has been recovered.
The amount also helped in recovering an area of 930 hectares of Shallabugh wetland, 400 hectares of Hygam wetland conservation reserve, 162 hectare of Mirgund wetland, 3 hectare of Kranchoo wetland, 30 hectares of Chatlum wetland, 2 hectares of Manibugh wetland, 7 hectares of Freshkoori wetland in Pulwama, and 20 hectare of Gharana wetland in Jammu District.
The proposed activities for lakes and wetlands in Jammu region include boundary fencing of wetland, provision for drainage channels along the boundary, establishment of Sewage Treatment Plant, Bio gas Plant and compost pits; Habitat improvement activities, establishment of wallowing pond/collection pond well & pond, earthen embankments and bunds, extension of water body, catchment area treatment, improvement of exit and inlet channels, weed removal, animal proof fencing at vulnerable areas and desilting of inlet drains and silt chambers, turtle breeding grounds and artificial basking sites, provisioning for artificial feed for migratory birds and relocation of exotic carp, added the Minister.
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