The CAG’s report on “Water Pollution in India” warns against the “drastic change in water quality” of Jammu and Kashmir’s Dal Lake, which is being destroyed by untreated sewage and fertilisers being dumped in its waters.
This will destroy one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes and reduce it to little more than a dirty pond. Steps must also be taken to stop the high-levels of siltation which has increased during the last seven years with 22,000 tonnes of silt getting deposited on the lake bed every year.
Synonymous for centuries with Kashmir’s idyllic beauty, the Dal Lake is a dying water body. Not only has the lake shrunk from an expanse of 75 sq km to 12 sq km, scientific studies warn that within the next three decades, it will be only a dirty, marshy pond.
Another 76 tonnes of phosphorus and 132 tonnes of nitrogen are also depositing on the lake bed with another 80 per cent of the untreated sewage of Srinagar being accumulated in the lake.
The lake’s water have also been invaded by an exotic species of weed called azolla which is growing over large areas of the lake.
The CAG blames both the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the J&K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) for this sorry state of affairs.
The MoEF sanctioned `5 lakhs to the LAWDA for “Jhelum River Action Plan” 13 years ago to help rejuvenate the lake. But, since the LAWDA failed to furnish a timely utilisation certificate, Central funds to the tune of `17.14 crores going unused. The LWDA was set up in 1997 to save the lake, but it has become a byword for ineffective planning and corruption and has been indicted by the state vigilance organisation for massive misappropriation of funds.
More than `250 crores has been spent on conserving the Dal-Nageen lake but there is little action on the ground. The state government set up six sewage treatment plants but these remain ineffective. The LAWDA, in the last five years, has also failed to set up a project management consultant to ensure effective implementation of the project.