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Half-hearted approach on Dal
Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/10/2013 11:49:39 PM
No amount of money can help in relocation of dwellers from the water body
A lot of skepticism has been expressed by all the stakeholders on the issue of relocation and rehabilitation of the dwellers in world famous Dal lake, that has been described as the major reason for shrinking size of the water body in Srinagar city. The biggest attraction of the tourists in Kashmir valley has been ailing for various reasons as a result of which its size has been decreasing over the past few decades and a lot of awareness among the people has sounded an alarm about its conservation. Apart from this, half-hearted measures have been initiated to preserve the water body which provides livelihood to thousands of people. The recent announcement of the central government to provide more than Rs 300 crore for rehabilitation of the Dal dwellers has again restarted the debate about the intentions of the state government. The previous attempts to relocate the dwellers have been found to be unimaginative and shortsighted keeping in view number of people and the options worked out for their welfare. None of the plans which have been restricted to the drawing boards could take off due to stiff opposition from the Dal dwellers and all those connected with the tourism trade in the past. In fact clearance of its catchment areas has been a big headache for the government agencies because of the fact that no serious effort has been made to ensure flow of fresh water into the lake to keep its alive and going for posterity. The sheer decrease in its size has been attributed to poor planning and unimaginative approach of the authorities. Now the relocation of the population has been a major question apart from sewage disposal into the lake from the dwelling units and other tourism related infra-structure. Unless efforts are made to check weeding and plans to stop sewerage disposal into the lake, no plans can work for the rehabilitation of the Dal dwellers.