Deadline for Dal Lake cleaning

Srinagar: In a path-breaking decision, Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday asked the state government and the Lakes And Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) to dismantle all floating gardens within the Dal Lake and rehabilitate them immediately within three months.

The court has also asked to stop flow of sewage from the commercial establishments all along the lake and within the lake from hotels, restaurants and shops. It has given a three-month deadline to the authorities to stop such flow into the lake and even warned that it will start contempt proceedings against them for any delay.

While hearing a writ petition on cleaning the Dal Lake, Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sanjeev Kumar passed a host of directions to different wings of the government to clean and preserve the world famous lake and take all the decisions within the timeline fixed by the court. It said that the exercise of dismantling and clearing the floating gardens must be completed within six months and violation of any of its directions will invite “strict action including contempt”.

The court directed LAWDA to ascertain within one week the details of the families dependent on vegetable cultivation within the lake. It asked the government to rehabilitate such families within three months before dismantling their floating gardens within the lake.

On the direct sewage flow into the lake from different commercial establishments including hotels, the court said that polluting units shall have to shut down their operations and deposit a penalty of minimum of Rs 50,000 with LAWDA. It also directed the government to examine within a few weeks the possibility of prohibiting the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the catchment areas of the lake.