Govt admits illegal encroachments in and around Dal lake
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the Irrigation and Flood Control Department to remove all the encroachments from the river Jhelum and all other water bodies within 21 days and also submit the list of all the engineers to the court.
A division bench of the court on October 5 while hearing a PIL filed by a Srinagar resident Noorul Haq asked the chief engineer IFC to submit the list of all junior and executive engineers to the court and remove all the encroachment from the water bodies.
Admitting that he has been directed by the court to act on the encroachment, CE IFC Javaid Jaffer said that over 400 illegal residential houses have been built on the Jhelum bank in Srinagar alone.
Jaffer said that within a week he will prepare the list of engineers and then will submit it in the court.
Meanwhile, the government Saturday admitted that illegal encroachments have been reported in an around Dal and Nigeen Lakes and the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) has taken immediate steps for removal of such encroachments.
In response to a question raised by National Conference legislator Mubarak Gul, the Minister for Housing and Urban Development said that formal cases have been registered against the tipper owners carrying construction material illegally and the encroachers in concerned police stations.
The Minister said that in order to retain the past glory of Dal Lake, the Dal dwellers are being shifted and rehabilitated at Rakh-i-Arth Colony which is being developed by the LAWDA on the land measuring 7526 Kanals 7 Marlas.
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