Srinagar: Year 2014 flood wreaked havoc in Kashmir destroying properties worth crores mostly in the Srinagar City and its adjoining areas. Most of the houses were repaired by the people themselves while some waited for government relief. The stretch from Saidakadal to Ashai Bagh witnessed a huge damage during the floods. After the floods receded, the Revenue Department gave some relief amount to the inhabitants of Saidakadal Ashai Bagh stretch ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh to repair the damaged houses.
Contrary to the permission given by Revenue department, LAWDA (Lakes and Waterways development Authority) Department has raised objections to do the necessary repair work or reconstruction of the damaged houses. The department has further ordered that violators would be subjected to police action.
If the honourable High court has directed the authorities to demolish the structures lying within the 200 metre area of the Dal Lake vicinity, half of the city must be rehabilitated, said Manzoor Sofi, a resident of Ashai Bagh. Most of the structures including big hotels, government offices and residential houses fall within the ambit of this directive.
Why should the LAWDA target us then, asked Sofi.
Another resident, Javed Ahmad, said that some 30 years ago, the government decided to raise embankment on the either sides of the stretch to save the lake from encroachment. In 2001, the plan was dropped on grounds better known to the LAWDA, he said. After the floods, they are harassing us every now and then as if it is the only area which will help in saving the Dal Lake.
Where do we go with our families, he rued. We have property rights, documented revenue records and more importantly our ancestors have been living here for centuries. Our economies depend on our land and I just dont understand why they are targeting us.
While taking stock of the deteriorating condition of the Dal lake, the High Court in 2012-13 passed orders to rehabilitate the Dal dwellers with the instructions to demolish all those structures that fall within the 200 metres zone of the lake.
The mushroom growth of hotels along the periphery of the Dal Lake was met with stiff resistance from the environmentalists and saner residents prompting LAWDA and SDA to demolish a few structures. No hotel or any structure contributing to the deterioration of the lake was touched, Javed said. Instead, the number goes on increasing by the day.
If the LAWDA means business, the assessment report should be made public and action taken against every single area where structures within the 200 metre range have come up, ex-corporator Ghulam Nabi who lives in Saidakadal, said. The demolition drive shouldnt be specific to one location only. This is very casual approach from the government where there is no consensus within the departments itself.
If one government department gives permission to repair or reconstruct a structure and another objects, I should say there is something seriously wrong in the way departments function, he said. This is absolutely nonsense. We have documents and we are not going to move from here even if we have to sacrifice our lives.
Implementation of court orders cannot be selective and discriminatory, advocate G N Shaheen said. If one agency is giving money for repairs and the other objecting to it speaks volumes about the departmental failures within the government itself.
There are clear-cut orders from the court and we will take down all those structures that fall within the 200 metre zone, Dr. Sarmad Hafeez VC- LAWDA said. Every single area will be treated as per the law. There have been mistakes on the part of some previous LAWDA officials who permitted people to construct hotels and residential houses but this time around, we have zero tolerance for the malpractices.
We demolish every illegal structure, Dr Sarmad said.
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