Seeking strict compliance of the recommendations of expert committee with regard to activities detrimental to Dal lake, the High Court has said it would view any defiance by the officials seriously.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation on conservation of Dal lake, a division bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sanjeev Kumar also made it clear that there should be no infusion of fertilizers of any kind- organic or chemical into the lake.
“We make it clear that so far as the recommendations of the Committee regarding stoppage of certain detrimental activity in and around the Dal Lake is concerned, this Court will take an extremely serious view of non-compliance of the directions of this Court,” the bench said.
The LAWDA and other concerned agencies, the court observed, were expected to take robust steps, especially with regard to stoppage of certain works which are detrimental to the very existence of the Dal Lake. In addition, steps towards increasing public awareness and stopping sewage of effluents reaching the Dal Lake have to be aggressively pursued by the respondents,” court said.
The court also took “strong exception” to the suggestion by chairman LAWDA that chemical fertilizers are not being used by persons cultivating in the floating gardens as they use humus organic material.
Observing that chemical fertilizers or organic fertilizer would be extremely conducive to the growth of weeds, the court said:”Therefore, any fertilizers added into the lake would facilitate growth of weeds as well. The lake does not need the infusion of fertilizers of any kind. The Committee has made very strong recommendations which must be heeded and implemented forthwith.”
The court directed LAWDA to place the full particulars as were directed by it on November 27 before the Committee of Experts as well as the Court. “The details inter alia include the particulars of the persons undertaking cultivation in the floating gardens; details of licensed houseboat and unlicensed houseboat owners; details of encroachments and their removal; persons who have been rehabilitated; the details of the properties which have been recovered upon shifting of the persons from the surrounding areas”.
The court also directed the Department of Tourism and LAWDA to take immediate steps to rectify the deficiencies in a houseboat named “Four Seasons” which is fixed adjacent to the parapet along the lake.
The direction came after the court perused a report filed by advocate Farah Bashir assisting amicus curiae. The report highlighted that houseboat belongs to the Tourism department and its drainage pipes open into the Dal Lake while back side of LAWDA’s Dockyard was being used as a garbage dump.