What About Dal Dwellers?

SAS

This is the high time to take effective measures for the preservtion of Dal lake. The lake is a symbol of our pride and its preservation must be govt's top priority. It is our moral as well as social responsibility to safeguar it.

However, we must at the same time take other aspects into consideration. The State govt is doing its best to restore Dal lake to its pristine glory, but what about Dal dwellers? Has anybody spared a thought for them? The State govt has decided to rehabilitate Dal dwellers at "Rakh Arath" Bemina. The entire area of "Rakh Arath", covering thousands of kanals, is basically a flood channel and, therefore, is not by any means fit for residential purpose.

Without paying heed to the incessant pleas of environmentalists and senior citizens, the govt went ahead with the project. The earth filling of "Rakh Arath" has been going on for several months now. The old Bemina is a flood-prone area and after the filling of "Rakh Arath" it has come under the threat of getting submerged if the dykes are breached during floods.

Our leaders have prefered to maintain silence on the issue. It seems all Just voices have altogether vanished in thin air.I fail to understand why Dal dwellers are treated as second-class citizens. Preserving Dal lake should be prime concern, but that does not mean Dal dwellers be damned. They should be rehabilitated at some appropriate place.

The Supreme court of India recently banned construction on agriculture land. However, the state govt seems hellbent to convert Rakh Arath (comprising thousands kanals of fertile agriculture land) into a residential coloney.

I see all this as a part of serious conspiracy. When John F Kennedy was president of America, he introduced several Reform programmes aimed at the underdeveloped countries with an objective to increase their dependency on America. One such programme was reducing the capacity to produce food grains so that the under-developed countries are compelled to import rice from America. The objective was: Don't allow these under-developed nations to be self-reliant. I see India adopting the same mechanism in Kashmir.