Srinagar, Sep 12: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has asked Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, to submit by October 28 the action taken report on suggestions of amicus curiae in Public Interest Litigations (PILs), including Environmental Policy Group (EPG)’s regarding the prevention of floods in Kashmir.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal ordered for filing of the report after the Divisional Commissioner, who was present virtually, said that the suggestions and recommendations by the amicus were still being examined.
In response to his request that the necessary information was being collated and the proceedings be deferred by four weeks to submit the Action Taken Report (ATR), the court adjourned the matter to October 28.
In keeping with the directions of the court, a comprehensive report was prepared by Advocate Nadeem Qadri as amicus curiae that was submitted to the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, through senior Advocate General, Mohsin Qadri.
The report carried the suggestions regarding the River Jhelum and other water bodies.
The report suggests an independent third-party inspection and evaluation of all the temporary and permanent works for floods executed by the government till date to justify the enormous amount of expenditure incurred with physical progress achieved and the impact of such works for flood protection in Kashmir on the basis of environmental assessment.
This exercise is necessary as previous financial government audits have raised serious concerns about these works, the report says.
The report indicates that the authorities concerned need to answer as and when the works related to Phases I, II, and III of the flood recovery project would get completed on the ground for benefits to accrue.
“What is the present status of the works of improvement of the existing Flood Spill Channel (FSC), which comprises removal of encroachments, its dredging, improvements of its embankments, all of which need to be provided along with the expenditures incurred and physical quantity of work done,” read the report.
The report seeks to know about the expected date of completion of works related to FSC, the present flow carrying capacity of River Jhelum, its tributaries, inland navigation waterways in Srinagar city, and the FSC with reference to the flood-related works executed so far on a holistic basis.
“What magnitude of probable floods can the riverine system of Jhelum carry presently, and would that be safe for the Valley,” it says.
The report indicates that for cities, towns, and villages located on either bank of the river, there needs to intercept, divert, and to provide Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) for the treatment of all generated sewage, storm, and waste water.
“Allow only the treated effluents from such STPs to outfall into the river which conform to the Standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board, J&K Pollution Control Committee for discharge of treated effluents of STPs into natural receiving waters,” it says.
The report seeks to know what happened to the action plan for re-establishing the pre-existing network of streams, wetlands, lakes, and the River Jhelum to show interlinkages between numerous water bodies.
The report suggests that the Wetlands Reserves like Hokersar, Khushalsar, Hygam, and Mirgund, Pampore Wetlands, need to be eco-restored and conserved in accordance with the stipulations envisaged in the ‘Integrated Management Action Plan for Wetland Conservation Kashmir- 2022- 2027’ already approved by the government and submitted to the Centre for funding.
This would of course, also require a reappraisal in consideration of climate change effects that have been witnessed over the past years, it says.
To prevent the possibility of recurrence of devastating floods like September 2014, the court last year directed authorities to file an ATR indicating the preventive measures they have taken in order to deal with the precarious issue of floods in Kashmir.
The court had also directed the government to furnish utilization certificates in respect of the amount to the tune of Rs 413.24 crore released by the Centre for various projects undertaken by Jammu and Kashmir.
The court had directed all the concerned Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to ensure that no constructions were raised near the water bodies within their territorial jurisdiction.
