Srinagar: The High Court Wednesday asked the government what action it has taken in the wake of encroachment of 640 kanals of Wular lake.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation, the division bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sanjay Dhar directed the authorities to file Action Taken Report (ATR), besides informing the court the manner in which Rs 200 crore provided, are sought to be spent for the conservation and management of the Wular lake. The Court sought the ATR within three weeks.
The court sought the details after Amicus Curiae Nadeem Qadri placed on record newspapers reports dated 29 August, 2021 appearing in Greater Kashmir and June 22, 2021 appearing in Kashmir Reader. The reports highlighted that 640 kanals of Wular Lake have been encroached upon illegally.
In the meantime, the Court directed the government to ensure that no garbage from any village situate on the banks of the Wular lake is dumped into the lake area.
In its report, Greater Kashmir had highlighted that over 640 kanals of the Wular Lake have been encroached upon. “In total 640 kanals of land is under encroachment including the government authorized/ accommodated Sher colony. It was apprised that there was approximately 90 kanals of land under encroachment situated at outer parameters of the Wular Lake out of which encroachment at 10 kanals have been removed,” the news item said.