HC seeks JKPCC report on water quality of Dal Lake

Srinagar, Nov 6: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh Wednesday directed the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) to report about the quality of water in Dal Lake in keeping with the samples taken from the water body for the last six months.

“We deem it essential to direct the respondents to place before this Court on the next date of hearing without fail the reports of the test conducted by the Pollution Control Committee pertaining to the water of Dal Lake from the past six months,” a division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Puneet Gupta said in its order.

The Court also directed that the reports necessarily must provide it with the current value of the state of water of the Lake, the permissible limits of the various constituents and a brief opinion whether values are within or below standard measures.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that was filed by Syed Iqbal Tahir Geelani in 2002, who was then a law student at the University of Kashmir (KU).

The directions came today after senior advocate  Z A Shah assisting as ‘amicus curie’ took  the court through various orders passed by the court in the past reflecting its “grave concern” for non-compliance with the orders.

“The need to read and appreciate these orders is essential to understand the meandering course that the case was taken till date over a period of 22 years,” the court said.

The Court underscored that the same would continue on the next date of hearing but urged the JKPCC to report about the water quality of Dal.

While the court listed the PIL for further hearing on December 3, it ordered that report regarding tests must reach the office of the Advocate General one week before the date of hearing with advance copy to the Amicus Curiae, which, it said, would be the responsibility of the AG’s Office.

In March last year , the court had asked the authorities concerned to give their views and suggestions with relevant documentation on issues including the flow of sewage and liquid waste into the Dal and the removal of unauthorised construction in and around the water body.