Jehlum crying

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Jehlum crying

 

The Jehlum called as Vitasta by ancient Hindus of Vedic times and

Hydaspes by ancient Greeks has lost all its glory over a period of

time. The damage was predominately caused during past fifty seven

years of so called democratic rule than earlier to it. The present

generation and its immediate predecessor generation inflicted much

of the damage to the river, its tributaries and its off shoots

downstream. Unfortunately the successive governments neglected it

and became facilitators for encroachments on it. The river together

with Nallamar and different Kuhls or streams once upon a time

afforded the name of Venice of Asia to Srinagar. Alas! All that is

gone, the Nallamar has been given a burial and other streams or

Kuhls have been condemned to decay. And together we have been doing

it. The society as a whole has turned a blind eye to the issue of

conserving the river and its tributaries. If people dump wastes in

to the river system, the government and its different departments

are no way behind in inflicting damage to the river system. On the

part of the government the negligence is colossus as it has been a

mute spectator to the degradation of the river ecology as it has

allowed raising of concrete structures and thousands of shanties all

along its banks. A year and a half ago, the government had taken up

beautification of the river and claimed that it had worked out an

ambitious plan to develop the river banks to give aesthetic touch to

these. Some work was carried out near Zero bridge, however the work

never got restarted. There are credible reports that the money for

the work is available with the state government. The money has come

from the Union Government which has released assistance to several

states for similar projects. The river needs immediate cleansing of

its bed so that its water carrying capacity is increased. The

encroachments on its banks and from within the river needs to be

removed at whatever the costs. Fortunately the charge of the Flood

Control Department has been vested in a minister who is considered

to be dynamic and well versed with his job. He is expected to

deliver and rid the river of all the encroachments and ensure that

the beautification work is taken up religiously. Incidentally he is

also the minister in charge tourism. He need not be told about the

importance of restoration of the lost glory to the river. The people

too need to be enlightened about the importance of keeping the river

and its surroundings clean. Infliction of any sort of damage to the

river needs to be made a cognizable offence lest no body dares to

harm it. One would like a similar law for other water bodies too so

as to save these from further degradation. We have already lost much

of our natural water resources and cannot afford to lose this

lifeline of the Valley. The local bodies like Srinagar Municipal

Corporation and a host of other bodies looking after the civic needs

of a host of towns along the banks of the river need to be prevented

from dumping the refuse, filth and garbage in to it. All the public

and private conveniences built on the banks of the river and its

tributaries shall have to be removed at once. The drain water being

discharged in to the river has to have proper treatment before being

allowed in to it. The government is fully abreast of the problems

confronting the threatened river and one would expect it to

demonstrate political will not only to undo the damage done to the

river but also beautify it. That would be its single largest

contribution to the Kashmiri society.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?

Date=20_9_2006&ItemID=6&cat=10