Affidavit filed by Raja Muzaffar Bhat regarding pollution of river Doodh Ganga and Mamath Kull, Srinagar and Budgam districts, Jammu & Kashmir, 23/05/2023
Additional affidavit on behalf of Raja Muzaffar Bhat regarding large scale pollution caused by discharging untreated sewage as well as dumping of municipal solid waste unscientifically in river Doodh Ganga and Mamath Kull in Srinagar and Budgam districts, Jammu & Kashmir.
The applicant has listed some points with regard to the present status of the river Doodh Ganga and Mamath Kull despite specific directions passed by the NGT. Raja Muzaffar Bhat said there has been no installation of sewage treatment plants on river Doodh Ganga stretch.
Till date not a single STP has been installed on the entire stretch of Doodh Ganga stream, neither in Srinagar Municipal Corporation limits nor in the upstream of Budgam district. Even the tenders have not been floated yet. Further, the applicant said that there was continuous dumping of waste on the embankments of river Doodh Ganga. No strict vigilance is conducted and that waste is being dumped unscientifically in the river Doodh Ganga embankments.
Legacy wastes are still lying from Branwar to Mochwa via Chadoora town and Begh-e-Mehtab to Tengapora. In villages like Borwah, Kralwari, Sogam, Hanjigun, Wathoora, Shahpora, Gopalpora, Kralpora, Mochwa, heaps of solid wastes, plastic waste and legacy wastes are dumped in the river Doodh Ganga embankments and till date no adequate restoration measures have been undertaken by the local municipal authorities or the Rural Development Department.
Persistent illegal mining is taking place in river Doodh Ganga at Chadoora town.This is causing massive ecological degradation. This riverbed mining is done with huge machines, JCBs and L&T cranes which is strictly prohibited under Jammu and Kashmir Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016 and also in complete violation of the specific conditions of Jammu and Kashmir State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. The constant illegal mining is causing large scale soil erosion around Chadoora town as a result of which the embankments of Doodh Ganga has weakened and is eroding gradually near Govt Degree College, Chadoora.