Sewerage system soon for Nigeen houseboats

or Houseboats moored on Nigeen to be connected to sewerage system

Once fully connected, pollution in lake to reduce to great extent

BOX: Registration guidelines

As the lakes have limited carrying capacity, based on the directions of the J&K High Court the tourism department has now drafted the guidelines for the registration of houseboats and other carriers on the Dal and Nigeen lakes. The guidelines are based on the report on the carrying capacity which was prepared by the Committee of Experts, reveal the documents accessed by The Tribune. In 1947, there were only three hotels on the Boulevard road along the Dal Lake and about 3,500 houseboats. In 2017, the number of hotels along the Boulevard stood at 2,500, while the houseboats have come down to 900.

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 2

The houseboats moored on the Nigeen Lake will soon be connected to the sewerage system as the pending work on the main sewage pipeline in the area has been completed.

Once fully connected to the sewerage system, the pollution from the houseboats will reduce to a great extent in the Nigeen — a key basin of the Dal Lake and famous with foreign tourists.

“The issue of the sewerage main line being incomplete for years due to the delay in acquisition of a small portion of land adjoining Nigeen was sorted out with the Committee of Experts intervention,” revealed a recent report of the committee which has been accessed by The Tribune.

The committee under the chairmanship of E Sreedharan, popularly known as the ‘Metro Man’, was appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2018 to suggest measures for the restoration, maintenance and preservation of the Dal and Nigeen lakes.

“With the pipe-laying work complete, a number of houseboats moored on the Nigeen can be connected to a sewerage system soon,” the report says.

The number of houseboats in both Dal and Nigeen lakes has decreased over the years and no new houseboats are permitted

A study by the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, had found that the Nigeen Lake and the Gagribal basin showed the highest nitrate nitrogen pollution as they have concentration of settlements in the vicinity.