Illegal buildings on riverbeds, who cares?

Lalit Mohan

Last week, a damage worth Rs 35 crore was caused in Kangra district within 24 hours due to heavy rains. A large number of private properties were also damaged. Besides nature, the experts are of the opinion that the losses were manmade as well.

Illegal buildings are coming up with impunity on the riverbeds in Kangra district. People or the administration have not learnt any lesson from the catastrophe in Uttarakhand and Srinagar in recent years, when several buildings constructed along rivers were washed off in floods and thousands of people lost their lives.

Properties including hotels, malls and shopping complexes have come up on  riverbeds on the main Gaggal-Dharamsala road, Dharamsala-Palampur road and many other roads as well. In many cases, encroachments are oblivious of the fact that buildings have been constructed beside the concrete railings of bridges. The constructions have also squeezed the width of the riverbeds significantly at many places.

Sources said the breadth of the rivers and rivulets is not specified in revenue records. However, in most of the cases, the riverbeds are either common lands or private properties. People encroaching take benefit of the lack of clearly specified rules regarding constructions along riverbeds in the state.

The experts are of the opinion that there should be a ban on construction along riverbeds at least up to the areas, where the river beds swell during the monsoon season.

The IPH officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was the duty of the district administration to check encroachments on rivers or rivulets. “We intervene only when an encroachment is made on our water sources. In case the district administration wants our advice over some encroachment on the riverbed, we can provide them,” the IPH officials said.

Most of the rivers and rivulets in Kangra district receive water from the melting of snow on the Dhauladhar mountain range or monsoon rain. Since the Kangra valley receives very heavy rainfall during monsoon season, chances of these rivulets receiving flashfloods remains very high. This year, the Meteorological Department had predicted higher than average monsoon in the area and chances of flashfloods also increased.

The illegal buildings being brought up along rivers and rivulets are also a burden on the government exchequer. Generally, people who construct their house right along the rivers or rivulets, then make petitions to the administration and government through their respective politicians to construct retaining walls along their buildings.

The state government spends crores on constructing retaining walls to protect private buildings constructed illegally along the rivulets and rivers. In addition to that, lakhs of rupees are spent on repairing these retaining walls. In many cases, the government also compensates people, who have constructed their buildings inside riverbeds for damage due to floods.

Experts are of the opinion that with global warming and increasing temperatures, the chances of flashfloods in rivers will also increase. In Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, most of the damage was caused due to encroachments on riverbeds. The Himachal Government should take a cue from natural catastrophes that have struck J&K and Uttarakhand and make amends in Himachal to minimise the damage in case of natural calamities.

River breadth not mentioned in revenue records 

• According to sources, the breadth of rivers and rivulets is not specified in revenue records. However, in most of the cases, the riverbeds are either common lands or private properties. 
• People encroaching take benefit of the lack of clearly specified rules regarding constructions along riverbeds in the state. 
• The experts are of the opinion that there should be a ban on construction along riverbeds at least up to the areas, where the river beds swell during the monsoon season.

Action was taken whenever a complaint in this regard was brought to my notice. I shall be writing to the departments concerned as well to look into the issue. Rakesh Prajapati, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra