After a long delay, the authorities at Drainage department here have finally started work on restoration of the Doodhganga canal which was on the verge of extinction owing to the pollution.
An official said owing tounchecked dumping of garbage and solid waste the canal was facing “seriousthreat” from Magarmal Bagh up to Zampa Kadal where it joins the river Jhelum.
Theofficial said the Drainage department along with trader outfits and localpopulation took up the issue with District administration here.
TheExecutive Engineer, Srinagar Drainage, Altaf Hussain Shah said owing toproactive role of the district administration they were able to start the workon the canal from the last week.
“We recently formulated theDetailed Project Report follwing which the district administration approved Rs47 lakh to start the work,” said Shah.
The official said all thebottlenecks resulting in choking of the canal will be removed. “The men andmachinery are at work to deepen and widen the canal to ensure free flow ofwater,” the official said.
Theofficial said dumping of solid waste by business community and locals hasworsened the situation in the area. “Recently a food outlet in the area had dumped over 25,000 disposableplates in the canal,” the official said.
Locals welcomed theinitiative by the department. According to them the revival of the canal willnot only help in its restoration but also save the area from submerging duringrains.
“Finally the authoritieshave woken up from the slumber to address the grave issue. During rains theentire drainage systems would turn defunct owing to the choked canal,” saidBasher Ahmed, a resident of Batamaloo.
He said people were also tobe blamed for dumping all the waste into the canal resulting in itsdeteriorating condition.
The officials said inaddition to widening of the canal they have also proposed setting up adewatering station at Zampa Kadal which will help the overall drainage network.
“We will soon finalize theDPR for it so that work can be taken up without any delay,” said the official.