Jammu, January 16: Governor Satya Pal Malik reviewed key achievements made on conservation and eco-restoration of Wular lake by the Wular Conservation & Management Authority (WUCMA) in a meeting held here at the Raj Bhavan today.
Governor observed that Wular Lake which is one of the largest fresh water lake in Asia and a declared Ramsar site is a lifeline of Kashmir and critical for conservation of Bio-diversity. He advised the Gillani, CEO, WUCMA to expedite on priority, dredging of the critically silted area for enhancing water holding capacity of the Lake and its rejuvenation and make all possible efforts for promoting eco tourism and generate livelihood opportunities from the Lake as per its Comprehensive Management Action Plan.
Governor directed time bound action for water management of the Wular and its associated wetlands as it protects the Kashmir Valley from floods as well as maintains the flow of water to support agriculture and hydro power generation.
Stressing focus on biodiversity conservation and conservation of the Catchment area of the Lake, Governor advised for efficient management of soil erosion, aquatic vegetation, and control of willow plantation within the Lake area.
Gillani, CEO, WUCMA through a power point presentation informed the meeting that during the last six years several key achievements have been made under Comprehensive Management Action Plan (CMAP) for Wular lake conservation and management including demarcation of lake to the extent of 98 % wherein the boundary has been duly digitized; an area of 1 sq km out of 27 sq km of the total area of the lake stands de-silted; silt load of 8.87 lakh Cum stands removed; 1.8 km long stretch of choked feeder channel( Naaz Nallah) having total length of about 6 kms stand de-silted; 45 low cost sanitary units have been built for population living along the banks to prevent defused pollution to the lake; financial assistance of Rs. 81 lakh given to the Municipal Committee Bandipore for solid waste management; afforestation of over 1220 ha stands completed with planting of 12 lakh saplings; 47,080 Cum of DRSM Check Dams and 16,186 Cum of crate wire bunds raised to arrest soil erosion in catchment area; 25,771 willow tress removed from the lake bed by Forest Department generating a revenue of Rs 2.88 crore.
K. Vijay Kumar, Advisor to Governor; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Umang Narula, Principal Secretary to Governor; Navin Choudhary, Principal Secretary Finance; Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment; Suresh Chug, PCCF/Chief Wildlife Warden J&K; Farooq Gillani, Chief Conservator of Forest, Kashmir, CEO, WUCMA; Ramesh Kumar, Special Secretary (Tech.) Forest Deptt; Parvaiz Handoo, Director (P&S); R.S. Bali Director, Finance, Forest, Environment & Ecology Department and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
