DC Rajouri reviews the status of water bodies in the district Calls for effective implementation of NGT guidelines at ground level

Rajouri, June,23:To review the status of the water bodies of the district and to ensure the effective implementation of the guidelines issued by National Green Tribunal at ground level, the Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Mohammad Nazir Sheikh on Tuesday convened a meeting of the concerned officers here in the Conference Hall of the PWD Dak Bungalow.

Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said that water is an invaluable gift of nature without which the existence of life on the Earth is impossible. He added that the water table around the world is drastically decreasing which leads to water scarcity and the main reasons for the same are growing population, over exploitation and unequal distribution of water among social groups.

He said there is a need to conserve, protect and the resurgence of the traditional water bodies so that the water table could be recharged,as this finite water source is rapidly becoming scarce . He stressed on the need for water conservation through traditional and modern means. He asked the concerned officers to make suitable plans and incorporate innovative ideas to ensure the conservation and proper management of all the water bodies of the district both natural and artificial.

The Deputy Commissioner said that a committee of the concerned Tehsildar, AEE Jal Shakti Department and Block Development officer shall be constituted which shall submit the list of the existing ponds, lakes, water bodies and other artificial water conservation structures developed by the Rural Development Department within a week’s time so that the same can be shared with the concerned authorities for necessary action.

He asked the concerned tehsildars to also provide the list of the water bodies which have been illegally captured so that encroachment on them can be removed within the shortest possible time for the larger benefit of the general public.

The Deputy Commissioner has directed the Executive Officers Municipalities to ensure the proper management of solid and liquid waste and avoid from dumping the same into the rivers.

It was also decided in the meeting that the Department of Jal Shakti would submit a plan regarding the management of run away water from the traditional water bodies. The Officers of the Jal shakti Department is entrusted with the job to calculate the water discharge of the traditional water bodies.

The meeting was attended by Chief Planning Officer, Shama Un Ahmed, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Sher Singh, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Mohd Ashraf, Assistant Commissioner Development, Sushil Khajuria, Chief Education Officer, Ram Saroop,District Panchayat Officer, Dr.Abdul Khabir, Chief Agriculture Officer, Vijay Kumar, Chief Horticulture Officer, Madan Lal, Divisional Forest Officer Rajouri, Sanjay Gupta, Divisional Forest officer Social Forestry Rajouri, Rakesh Saraf, Executive Engineer PHE Rajouri, Mushtaq Ahmed, Executive Engineer PHE Nowshera,Gurcharan Singh,Executive Engineer I&FC Rajouri, Sageer Hussain,Executive I&FC Nowshera, Hari Bushan, District Soil Conservation Officer, Mohd Rashid, Deputy Director IWMP Rajouri, Divisional Officer Pollution Control Board,Concerned Tehsildars,Executive Officers Municipalities and Block Development Officers.