Srinagar: The J&K High Court on Friday directed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sonamarg Development Authority to appear before it and explain his plans for preservation of meadows and glaciers at the hill resort.
The meadows and glaciers of Sonamarg, according to experts, as also acknowledged by the J&K High Court, are fast receding due to encroachments and other mechanical interventions. Its Thajiwas glacier has receded about 50 meters in the last three years, revealed a recent study by glaciologists.
Taking suo moto cognizance of the issue, a division bench of J&K High Court including Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice M K Kazmi directed the CEO Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) “to appear in person on the next date to explain the development work he intends to carry out at Sonamarg and how he is planning to preserve its meadows and glaciers.
In pursuance to a previous month’s order the court had required the CEO to explore the possibility of using wooden fence, hedges and plantation of trees to demarcate the various meadows and the boundaries of the various properties in the hill resort.
The officer filed an affidavit bringing on record the master plan for 2005 to 2015. It claimed that the master plan for 2025 to 2040 is under process and is being framed by the Chief Town Planner.
The court has already warned that it would recommend the government to wind up “authorities like SDA” if they could not take any development works, and that there is no use to keep the white elephants only for the purposes of siphoning of public money.
The court also asked the CEO Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) to come out with a “whitepaper” on the development work so far done by the Authority and the action plan drawn for its future development.
The court had earlier disapproved of the manner in which the demarcation of Sindh river had been done saying, “it has not been disclosed in the report whether any boundary pillars have been erected or not.”
A report by the Commissioner Secretary, Revenue Department submitted before the court has stated that 258 kanals and 12.75 marlas of land of the Sindh river was under encroachment and in possession of unauthorized occupants in Sonamarg.
