It was in my childhood, I witnessed Gill Sar, Anchar lake, Khushal Sar full of boats, shikaras, migratory birds, nuadru, pampach used as source of income. Many people directly or indirectly were depending on these types of natural resources for their livelihood.
This meager income was so precious & valuable that it provided support to large families having more than ten members. It has been rightly said put as “ensuring food security by working with nature”.
Presently, the position of these water bodies is so bad that I am telling my son about it like it is a century old story. I am not able to satisfy my son who is presently working on his Ed-tech innovation project “pienity.com” about the income generation by natural water body resource.
By changing the condition of Gilli sar from bad to worse I am unable to explain the new generation about the importance of this lake practically. According to a report the encroachment & inordinate delay in the conservation of the water body by administration is severely affecting the ecosystem.
Besides, continuous unattended issue like polythene pollution & other waste management issues are major concerns contributing to the shrinking of these wanter bodies into small dumping yards.
The ministry of water resources highlights the importance of water for human existence & economic development. It addresses the water scarcity problem; need to conserve it and review.
In contrast to US & other countries, our management of water resources is not working to collect, monitor & provide technical and scientific information about the condition, issues and problems of natural resources.
Government is seeking people’s participation and their active role to save & revive the water body. I remember when a house was constructed at one of the nearby water bodies, creating an impression that the person in question has meager source of income and cannot purchase land.
It was shocking to see a house of crores of rupees constructed on this wet piece of land. Number of such cases came to limelight when government took an action against the violators. In order to enhance and protect the quality of life our natural water body resource management needs watch & ward throughout year.
Hence, at the same time government needs to establish a camp office at all such important water body sites in order to have a positive impression in general public that no one is allowed to violate rules.
It will be in the interests of the society to establish permanent camp office of two to three designated officials along with locals to watch the progress under district plan, master plan, smart city plan and other central government schemes & international aid if any.
The policies & laws related to protection of water bodies are in place but implementation issues remains a challenging task for the authorities. Ministry of water resources issued guidelines with regard to repair, renovation & restoration of water bodies.
Over the years many revisions have been made on part of its management & regulation related to conservation of water bodies. The policy document provides detailed information on repair, renovation & restoration scheme with domestic budgetary support and with legal external support.
Ministry of Jal Shakti under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahautsav Policy dated 24th March 2022 for conservation of water bodies reads: “Indicative guidelines for restoration of water bodies” issued by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidance to the stakeholders for ensuring restoration, rejuvenation of water bodies. In order to implement the guidelines on ground in needs men & machinery in action from government side with the support of local volunteer organizations.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.
