Srinagar: The High Court has asked the concerned authorities to provide their perspectives to it on issues like flow of sewage, stoppage and removal of unauthorised constructions in and around the Dal Lake.
Hearing a long standing PIL about the “declining” condition of Dal Lake, a division bench comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal asked the concerned authorities to provide to the court their standpoint on the various challenges threatening the existence of the iconic urban lake of Kashmir.
The issues pinpointed by the bench include flow of sewage/liquid waste in to the lake, management of solid waste in and around it besides “the stoppage and removal of unauthorized constructions and all encroachments in and around the lake area and the responsibilities of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) as also that of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC)”.
Accordingly, the Coram said that it would like the concerned authorities to provide their perspectives on how to address these issues, to facilitate the court in passing appropriate orders.
Considering the importance and significance of the issues involved in the PIL, the bench held that it should be scheduled for hearing at least once a week.
In order “to aid the Amicus Curiae” Zaffar Shah, the court ordered appointment of advocates Saima Mehboob, and Ahra Syed as assisting counsels. “Each of them shall be paid Rs 20,000 to start with by the UT government,” ordered the court.
It instructed the Registrar General to provide all necessary assistance to the office of the Amicus Curiae, including providing soft copies of the required documents.
In September 2021, the High Court had identified certain specific issues that required attention, including cleanliness of Dal Lake as well as flow of sewage/liquid waste in it.
The court had stressed the responsibility of the Tourism department “qua the development of tourist and recreational sports maintenance and creation of public facilities”.
In addition to the solid waste management, it had directed management of the problems concerning houseboats and called up the authorities to prevent the “continuous” infringement of the area of the lake.
