CM for close Centre-State coordination for protection of water-bodies

Describing preservation and protection of forests and water- bodies as the priority sector of the State Government, Chief Minister, Mr. Omar Abdullah Monday sought support of the Union Government for conservation of forests, wetlands, lakes and rivers for secure and bright future of the State. He said this gigantic task requires huge funding and coordination between various Centre and State government departments to achieve the goal and added that the damage caused to green wealth, wetlands and water bodies by human interference needs a collective and holistic approach for restoration and retrieve.

The Chief Minister, along with Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Mr. Jairam Ramesh was taking stock of the Centrally-sponsored Dal and Nageen Lake Development Projects at SKICC, here.

Mr. Abdullah said rehabilitation and resettlement of Dal dwellers should form the part of the overall Dal project. He said Dal is not only a lake but a social and eco-system which has direct impact on large chunk of population and the survival of Srinagar city itself. He sought Union Environment Minister’s help in getting the rehabilitation and resettlement project of Dal Lake approved at the Central-level and its integration with the main Dal restoration scheme.

The Chief Minister also sought cooperation and active support of Union Minister for getting through various projects relating to water-bodies development, pollution control, environment safeguarding and restoration of forests, at the Central-level. “Many projects have been submitted to the Union Environment Ministry for approval and funding which require your intervention for speedy sanctioning”, he told Mr. Ramesh.

Mr. Ramesh assured the Chief Minister that he would champion protection and conservation of Dal and other water-bodies in all fora at the Central-level. He said he would also take up the matter of sanctioning about Rs. 1,100 crore project for the rehabilitation of Dal dwellers by the Centre Government. “I would also take up this issue with the 13^th Finance Commission so that funds are earmarked for the State to go ahead with the implementation of mega Dal project covering all its aspects”, he added.

Union Minister of State for Forests sanctioned Rs. 10 crore for the Dal project and handed over sanction letter to the Commissioner/Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Mrs. Naseem Lankar in the meeting.

The Union Minister also assured he would speed up the process of sanctioning Wullar Development Project for which State Government has submitted a proposal costing Rs. 386 crore. He also asked the State Forest Department to constitute State Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) to utilize Rs. 181 crore earmarked by the Central Forest Ministry for afforestation works in Jammu and Kashmir. He also assured of helping the State in getting Rs. 600 crore Wetland Development Project through at the Central-level.

Union Minister said that he would ask his new Director General, Forests, who is taking over on Tuesday, to visit Jammu and Kashmir soon and discuss all projects that can be helped at the Centre-level with the State Departmental heads.

Speaking in the meeting, Minister for Forests and Environment Mian Altaf Ahmad said J&K is unique among the states of the country for its peculiarity of utilizing over 95 per cent timber in construction of houses, adding the forests here have to bear greater pressure on this count. He said government is giving priority to restore depleted forest cover and encourage afforestation even outside the forest areas involving larger public participation.

Mian Altaf said Chief Minister has already conveyed instructions for optimal utilization of funds for maximum benefits. “We assure that Forest Department would work tirelessly to ensure full benefit of the schemes percolates to ground level”, he said.

Briefing the meeting about the measures under implementation in Dal Development Programme, Mrs. Lankar said the lake, besides having socio-economic importance for over 10,000 families, has utility for tourism, drinking water, fishery, food and fodder, vegetables, wildlife, water sports and medicinal plants. She said a holistic view is required to be taken for cleaning the lake and rehabilitation of Dal dwellers.

Two power-point presentations were made at the meeting in which Chief Minister and Union Minister were briefed about various wetland and water-body projects, including Dal and Wullar lakes.

Commissioner/Secretary, Forest, Mr. Shant Manu, in his presentation gave a resume of the forests and wetland protection and preservation schemes. He dwelt at length about the benefits of forests for ecological balance, bio-diversity, perennial supply of water, soil conservation, climate and carbon regulation and nutrient cycling. He gave details of Rs. 26.28-crore Tso-Moriri, Rs. 6.91 crore Surinsar-Mansar and Rs. 386 crore Wullar projects identified as Ramsar sites and taken up under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme (PMRP).

The other presentation was given by Vice-Chairman, LAWDA, Mr. Irfan Yasin in which he explained socio-economic and ecological importance of the Dal lake and gave details of Rs. 298 crore Centrally-sponsored project, presently under implementation for restoration of the lake.

The meeting was attended by the Mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Mr. Salman Sagar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Mr. Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, besides various senior officers of Forest, LAWDA and Pollution Control Board.