Jammu, Mar 28: The Legislative Assembly today witnessed noisy protests by the opposition members over the alleged diversion of funds meant for the Lakes and Water Bodies Development Authority (LAWDA), and neglect of water bodies in Jammu.
 Greater Kashmir was the first to report the diversion of funds of LAWDA for Dal conservation, last month.
 The pandemonium that lasted for about 15 minutes was followed by walkout by opposition members.  
 While the Jammu based party members, including Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Panthers Party (NPP) and Jammu State Morcha (JSM) staged walkout for alleged neglect of water bodies of Jammu region, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party registered its protest over the diversion of Dal conservation funds.
 Raising supplementary on his own question, PDP legislator Peerzada Mansoor Hussain sought explanation from the Government about the reasons that forced it to divert  Rs 10 crore out of the LAWDA allocations.
 “It is matter of shame for the Government that it failed to spend the funds in last two years. This shows that the Ministry is in the wrong hands” Mansoor said.
 Responding to the queries, Minister of State for Urban Development, Nasir Aslam Wani said that LAWDA could not spend money due to adverse law and order situation for more than four months from June onwards in 2010. “The funds to the tune of Rs 10  Crore were reappropriated to other heads operated by departments with the prior approval of the Planning department on March 23, 2011 otherwise the funds would have lapsed,” Wani replied.
 On this NPP member Harshdev Singh castigated the Government for ignoring the lakes in Jammu region with regard to their preservation and development. He asked the Minister as under how many heads the funds were being kept for conservation of Dal Lake. “It seems that there is only one lake in the world” Singh said alleging that the lakes of Jammu region including Mansar and Surinsar are being neglected by the Government.
 Unsatisfied with the reply, PDP legislator Basharat Bukhari asked the Minister to divulge the reasons which prevented the Government from spending the money.
 “Four months, when did stone pelting occur in Dal?,” asked PDP legislator Javed Mustafa Mir
 He were also joined by party legislators Nizamudin Bhat and Abdul Rehman Veeri, who termed the reply of Minister as unsatisfactory. Hakim Muhammad Yasin also sought explanation for diversion of funds.
 As the opposition members persisted for a detailed reply and continued to interrupt the Minister, speaker asked the later to sit down and called for next question.
 This irked the PDP legislators, who trooped into the well. “We are not satisfied with the reply and in one voice demand constitution of House Committee to probe into the matter,” they demanded.
 “It is in your hands to allow smooth proceedings of the House. Is this the way?” he questioned the PDP legislators who staged protest in the Well.
 “You have to make a submission, you have to make a request” the speaker said, but the PDP legislators persisted on their demand of constitution of the House Committee .
 “I reject your plea”, the Speaker said. But the PDP legislators offered stiff resistance saying they have every right to protest against the failures of the Government. The PDP legislators staged walkout from the House.
 Following the walkout by PDP legislators, Harshdev Singh also stood and said that the Minister had not  replied to his query of alleged neglect of water bodies of Jammu region.
 While the Speaker assured NPP member that he has directed the Ministry to give written reply, the later left the house to mark his protest.  
 BJP legislators Jugal Kishore Sharma, JSM legislator Ashwani Sharma, Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yashpal Kundal also staged walkout expressing dissatisfaction with the reply of the Minister.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST