Posted on January 19, 2019
JAMMU: Governor Satya Pal Malik Wednesday called for expediting on priority, dredging of the critically silted area of Wullar lake for enhancing water holding capacity of the Lake.
He also stressed on promoting eco tourism and generation of livelihood opportunities from the lake as per its Comprehensive Management Action Plan.
Malik made the observations while reviewing key achievements made on conservation and eco-restoration of Wular Lake by the Wular Conservation & Management Authority (WUCMA) in a meeting held here at the Raj Bhavan Wednesday.
Governor observed that Wular Lake, which is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia and a declared Ramsar site, is a lifeline of Kashmir and critical for conservation of Bio-diversity. He directed time bound action for water management of the lake and its associated wetlands as it protects the Kashmir Valley from floods as well as maintains the flow of water to support agriculture and hydro power generation.
Stressing focus on biodiversity conservation and conservation of the catchment area of the Lake, Governor advised for efficient management of soil erosion, aquatic vegetation, and control of willow plantation with in the Lake area.
Farooq Gillani, CEO, WUCMA informed the meeting that during the last six years several key achievements have been made under Comprehensive Management Action Plan (CMAP) for Wular lake conservation and management including demarcation of lake to the extent of 98 % wherein the boundary has been duly digitized; an area of 1 sq km out of 27 sq km of the total area of the lake stands de-silted; silt load of 8.87 lakh Cum stands removed; 1.8 km long stretch of choked feeder channel( Naaz Nallah) having total length of about 6kms stand de-silted; 45 low cost sanitary units have been built for population living along the banks to prevent defused pollution to the lake; financial assistance of Rs. 81 lakh given to the Municipal Committee Bandipore for solid waste management; afforestation of over 1220 ha stands completed with planting of 12 lakh saplings; 47,080 Cum of DRSM Check Dams and 16,186 Cum of crate wire bunds raised to arrest soil erosion in catchment area; 25,771 willow tress removed from the lake bed by Forest Department generating a revenue of Rs 2.88 crore.
Source: Kashmir Reader
