Srinagar, Dec 27: As the ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are engaged in a blame-game as to who of the two deteriorated the City, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has woken up to find no less than 155 slums in 21 different areas, which have come up in the past decade, a timeframe when the two parties remained in power.
 A study carried out by the SMC blames the lack of inter-departmental “coordination, inter-institutional coordination for proliferation of slum areas”.
 It states that the quality of life in these areas has further deteriorated due to non-availability of drinking water. Srinagar’s water treatment capacity has reduced from 57.55 millions gallons per day (MGD) in 2006 to 43.74 MGD in 2011 for a population 12 lakh.
 SMC blames the “obsolete water treatment plants and distribution system” for the decline in water  supply.
 Besides water woes, the City’s waterbodies are fast turning into one big dumping yard.
 “Around 40 MGD of sewage is directly going into various water bodies generating water pollution and other related problems,” says the study.
 At present, the SMC is able to lift only 40 per cent of the municipal waste. “Rest is dumped either into water bodies, depressions and vacant spaces, which has generated unhygienic conditions in most parts of the City,” says the study. Of late, the NC and PDP have locked horns over who is responsible for the City “going to dogs”.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 IST