Srinagar, July 18: The state-of-the-art Truxor machines procured from Switzerland to restore the blocked waterways of Dal lake have been successfully tested in the water body.
The three Truxors procured at an estimated cost of Rs 3.25 crore were assembled and subjected to through testing by a team of experts from Switzerland. The amphibian design and latest technology enables the Truxor to smoothly undertake cutting, dredging even in swamps and narrow channels and operate on land as well as water, officials said.
“Truxor is tailor made for Dal which is marred by heavy infestation of weeds and has many blocked water channels. It has been successful to restore sanctity to many lakes in Europe and US whose condition was worst than Dal” Andre Lorang, a water management expert from Switzerland told Greater Kashmir.
Lorang who is also the Managing Director of Aquarius, Swiss based manufacturers of Truxor, said in 2005 he had made an extensive survey of Dal lake and recommended procurement of various machines including Water Masters from Finland.
“There is need to root out the obnoxious weeds from Dal lake which increases the concentration of nutrients in the lake. Machines can undertake the jobs more effectively and economically,” Lorang said.
He said the Truxor is laced with many attachments to undertake different water management jobs. Incidentally, Lorang has tested Rolba the first machine to be used for Dal conservation in 1983. “I have seen many lakes around the lake, but not as big and beautiful than Dal. The lake can be restored in a few years provided more machines including root millers, choppers and skimmers are used. Time factor is more important for Dal conservation. There is a massive gap between Dal deterioration rate and conservation measures. Only machines can bridge the gap,” he said.
Praveen Malhotra, the Country’s representative of Aquarius, said it will look after maintenance of Truxors for two years. “The Truxors are designed to work continuously in tough conditions. We will be closely monitoring its functioning in the Dal and regularly undertake its maintenance,” he said.
The LAWDA’s Executive Engineer, Mechanical, Mushtaq Hussain Jan said the Truxor will be pressed into service in the Dal’s backwaters. “The machines will help us to restore the interior canals of Dal. The experts from Switzerland are training our men and soon we will launch a drive to salvage the blocked waterways,” Jan said.
Officials said to maintain transparency and quality control, the Truxors have been procured through the Director General of Supplies and Disposal, a central purchase and quality assurance organization of Union Ministry of Commerce.
Pertinently degradation of Dal catchments had led to excessive siltation, growth of obnoxious weeds and drastic reduction of the depth particularly in the Dal interiors. Due to extensive deterioration of the water channels, the LAWDA over the years has been struggling to undertake its restoration manually. The problem was compounded due to shortage of machines.
The LAWDA earlier this year had procured two Water Master Classic III machines for undertaking heavy dredging and suction works in open parts and front portion of the Dal. Though the machines have sped up the Dal conservation, but due to their massive size, they can’t operate in the lake interiors,” Jan said.
It was in 2007 that the High Court monitoring the Dal conservation, had directed the LAWDA to procure latest machines for restoring the lake’s glory. However, for three years the LAWDA had failed to procure the machines on one or other pretext. The delay in procurement of machines had evoked sharp criticism from environment experts.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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