Take additional measures to clean Wular Lake: Chief Secretary

Srinagar, Aug 3: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo Saturday called for taking additional measures to clean the Wular Lake and directed to act tough against the encroachers.

Holding a meeting of the Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA) to assess the measures taken for cleaning and beautification of the water body besides increasing tourist footfall to the largest freshwater lake in the country, the chief secretary impressed upon the authority to make strenuous efforts to cleanse the entire lake area besides acting tough against the encroachers.

He also enquired about the beautification works executed by the department to increase the footfall of tourists to this lake.

Dulloo exhorted the lake authorities to pace up the ongoing works besides creating other facilities there to woo the tourists.

He maintained that the water body is a picturesque location studded with many of the popular sites in its periphery.

The chief secretary said that the place has great potential for development and could come up as a great tourist attraction in Kashmir.

He told the DCs to assist the lake authority to make it the best location in terms of facilities and scenic beauty existing there.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Forests, Dheeraj Gupta said that the department had taken several steps to improve the overall ecosystem of the lake.

He said that the three focus areas for the department were dredging the entire lake area, updation of the management plan and tourism promotion to bring livelihood to the locals residing there.

It was revealed that the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) was continuously monitoring the pollution levels in the lake and suggesting measures to tackle it.

It was said that solid waste management was given the prime focus as it is the primary detriment for the lake waters.

It was said that the total lake area was around 130 sq km and the entire periphery of 84 km had been demarcated by geo-tagged boundary pillars.

It was said that so far 11 km of vulnerable boundary had been consolidated by bunds and chain-link fencing and this year, the department was contemplating covering 15 more km of such boundary to evict the encroachers.

Moreover, it was said that 5 sq km of lake area had been dredged so far at Rs 196 crore and 22 sq km more critically silted area was to be dredged now.

It was said that a revenue-based model was being worked out to take the task towards completion.

Regarding the generation of livelihoods through tourism promotion, it was said that the construction of a 2.5 km non-motorable walkway was under execution through the R&B Department which was expected to be completed by October this year.

The meeting was apprised that Delta Park at Baniyari and Dyke Park at Garoora were also in progress.

The installation of water fountains near the vantage point was going to be completed this year along with extending the walkway by another 2.5 km up to vantage point from Naz Nallah and developing Watlab, Adipora-Ninglee cycle track.

Regarding the pollution control measures it was said that installation of 5 real-time water quality monitoring systems through JKPCC and DEERS would be commissioned during this year.

In addition, of the 23 inlets that bring water, six are prioritised for treatment using artificial wetlands technology.

WUCMA is partnering with RUDA for solid waste management which would include collection, segregation, and disposal of solid waste on scientific lines.

In the first phase, three villages – S K Payeen, Garoora, and Zurimanz are taken as pilots during the current year, the meeting was told.

The meeting was also attended by Chairman J&K Pollution Control Committee; Secretary R&B; Chief Executive Director WUCMA and DCs of Baramulla and Bandipora.