Begin district-wise demarcation of water bodies, officials directed

Tribune News Service

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Jammu, March 7

Unable to stop encroachments along rivers in J&K, the PDP-BJP government has directed the Revenue and Irrigation and Flood Control Department to start a district-wise demarcation of water bodies and submit details in the next few months.

All Deputy Commissioners have been directed to ensure the implementation of the rules and regulations governing the preservation of water bodies, damaged by the land mafia and illegal colonies allowed by the administration.

Officials said the government had asked the Revenue, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department along with the Irrigation and Flood Control Department to ensure the removal of encroachments from such water bodies after proper identification.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the officials chaired by Minister for Revenue, Haj and Auqaf and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Rehman Veeri to review the results achieved by the adoption of the state water policy. Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Choudhary was also present in the meeting.

“There should be a strong check on any kind of encroachment and necessary action needs to be taken to preserve the water bodies in the state. The definition of water resource needs to be reviewed and refined immediately to remove ambiguity. Also, the water bodies and its sources need to be properly demarcated and delineated,” Veeri said.

The ministers asked the Divisional Commissioners and the Deputy Commissioners to involve the Urban Local Bodies and Municipal Corporations and people to safeguard water resources.

“I have directed the Irrigation and PHE Department to ensure that the water resources are secured and steps needed toprevent encroachment should be implemented,” said Sham Choudhary.

Under the J&K Water Resources (Regulation and Management Act-2010), the Irrigation and Flood Control Department is responsible when it comes to the usage of water but the Revenue Department and the Urban Local Bodies have failed to act against encroachments and prevent the direct influx of pollutants in water bodies and rivers. There is complete lack of coordination between the agencies.

Moreover, despite the High Court directions, encroachments persist and illegal construction is going on unabated across the state on the river banks and wetlands.