SRINAGAR: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday visited the interiors of Dal Lake to take stock of the de weeding and cleaning process in the world famous lake, an official spokesman said.
The Chief Minister visited the Dal waters from Boulevard upto Nishat Ghats during which Mehbooba Mufti took an on the spot assessment of the lake conservation efforts by the concerned agencies.
The visit is in conformity with the announcement of the Chief Minister on October 02 to visit the lake periodically to personally monitor its cleaning process. On October 02, the Chief Minister had visited Dal lake and expressed concern over the level of pollution and weeds in the famed lake.
During the visit, the Chief Minister directed immediate removal of junk from the shoreline of the lake at Nishat. She also directed further pacing up of de weeding and cleaning process. She said she would be personally monitoring the cleaning process of the lake.
The Chief Minister appealed people to play their role as conscientious citizens in the conservation and protection of the lake which, she said, holds a special heritage value for Jammu & Kashmir. She specifically appealed people to support Government’s efforts to restore Dal and avoid polluting the lake waters and not encourage in anyway encroachment of the Dal area.
On the occasion, Mehbooba Mufti was informed that lily growth was observed over five kilometres area of the lake and out of that around two kilometre area has been cleared off, both manually and through lily removal machines. She was also informed that mechanical interventions like water masters, weed harvestors besides lily removal machines have been pressed into service after her instructions on October 02. Additionally, the Chief Minister was informed that, manual de weeding has been started in 32 sections of the lake with 500 trained labourers working every day.
Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Rohit Kansal; Commissioner-Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Hridesh Kumar; Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed; Vice Chairman, LWDA, Dr. Abdul Hafiz Masudi; Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Dr. Shafqat Khan and other officers accompanied the Chief Minister during the visit.
Besides, several deputations met the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti here today and apprised her of their day to day problems.
A deputation of members of Civil Society, Sopore thanked the Chief Minister for creating the post of Additional Deputy Commissioner and sought granting more powers to the position. They also sought augmentation of health, water supply and education facilities in the town.
A deputation of management of Islamia College, Hawal also met the Chief Minister and apprised her about their functioning.
Mehbooba Mufti complimented the management and teachers of the college for attaining NAAC accreditation.
Another deputation from Drass sought posting and creation of staff for Sub District Hospital and SDM office besides construction of Bye Pass for the town, augmentation of power supply and opening of Drass-Gurez road to public. They thanked the Chief Minister for granting the area a college and sought upgradation of some High Schools to the level of Higher Secondary schools.
A deputation of students of Food Technology sought popularization of the subject to enhance its employability level among youth.
Deputations of several tour and travel bodies also met the Chief Minister and hailed her for her efforts in promoting tourism in the State. They also sought steps for withdrawal of negative travel advisories on Kashmir to persuade more foreign tourists to visit the place and availability of tourism information of the State in all the Embassies outside. They also demanded interest subvention on their loans and benefits after the sector has been declared as industry.
A deputation of Pandit community sought installation of street lights in Pandit Township at Jagti. A deputation of contractors affiliated to I&FC Department sought release of pending payments of their works.
Another deputation of members of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises demanded ease in forest clearances to the unit holders, dedicated power lines to Industrial Estates, release of balance payments and adherence to purchase preference by the Government in respect of small business holders.
Deputations of employees of State Procurement Department, IT professionals and J&K Bank Officers Association also met the Chief Minister and raised their issues with her.
The Chief Minister gave a patient hearing to the demands raised by the deputationists. She assured them to look into the issues raised in a time bound manner.
