Authorities have failed to expedite rehabilitation of Dal Lake dwellers at Rakh-e-Arth on city outskirts here.
Under the relocation and rehabilitation of Dal dwellers, authorities have acquired just 1101 structures out of 3163 structures. “As per 1985 survey, the number of structures in Dal was 2532. In 2010, additional 631 structures were included in the list under Prime Minister’s reconstruction plan. These additional structures are situated from Saida Kadal to Ashaibagh,” said LAWDA’s executive engineer, (Division Ist) Raman Uppal.
The population in the water body has been listed by various lake conservation reports as an obstacle in its conservation. The lake is spread over 25.76 square kilo meters with 20.21 square kilo meters as water and 5.55 square kilo meter as land mass.
In 2007, LAWDA prepare plots for an estimated population of 55,000 souls living in the lake to be shifted to Rakhi Arth colony at Bemina within three years. The objective was to clear inner areas of the lake for its conservation by or before 2010.
The project of their rehabilitation and relocation has already been delayed by nine years with a work shortfall of 66 percent.
The rehabilitation process of Dal dwellers is getting costlier with each passing year as a number of souls and families within the structure keep increasing.
Under the rehabilitation scheme, the plots are provided to the Dal dwellers at Abi Nowpora, Abi Karpora, Nandpora and Karpora-Batpora, and Rakhi Arth.
On an average, four families live in single structure. Each family has to be provided five marlas plot with constructed house, said a LAWDA official.
The slow pace of the rehabilitation process suggests that it would take three decades for authorities to rehabilitate all families. The government has already made available 7,000 kanals for construction of flats at Rakh-e-Arth at Bemina for rehabilation of Dal dwellers.
The conservation management plan of the Dal Lake is fully funded by Central government. The cost of the rehabilitation of Dal dwellers is to be borne by the state
As reported earlier by this newspaper, the successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir have failed to spend a single penny out of Rs 380 crore allocated to the State under different central financial packages for the conservation of the lake. Rs 80 crore allocated to the State as part of the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Program by the Congress-led UPA government in 2004, for the conservation of the dying lake, have remained unspent till date.
Similarly, Rs 300 crore package for the conservation of the lake, allocated under PM’s Developmental Package (PMDP) in 2015, has met the same fate. Of these Rs 300 crore, Rs 50 crore were meant for cleaning of the lake and the remaining Rs 250 crore for rehabilitation of people living inside Dal to other places.