Srinagar: The State Government on Monday constituted group of ministers (GoM) to examine the proposal submitted by the Forest, Ecology and Environment Department to the Cabinet regarding accord of administrative approval and acceptance of the single tender for execution of work for dredging and strengthening embankment of Wullar Lake.
The the seven-member GoM has been tasked to examine the department’s proposal for removal and grubbing of willow and other undesirable tree species from the Wullar, Asia’s biggest fresh water Lake, as well as its feeder channels under the Comprehensive Management Action Plan.
The ministers include that of Forest, Ecology & Environment ( Lal Singh—convener), Minister for Social Welfare, ARI & Trainings and Science & Technology (Sajjad Gani Lone), Finance, Labour & Employment (Haseeb Drabu), ooperatives and Ladakh Affairs (Chering Dorjay), PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control (Sham Lal Chaudhary), information Technology, Technical Education and Youth Services & Sports (Imran Raza Ansari) and Education (Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari).
Wullar is considered as a huge storage basin for flood waters and J&K high court time and again asked the government to increase the intake capacity of the lake.
In April this year, the Supreme Court directed that Wullar Lake among others be maintained and asked the high court to ensure that the Ramsar Convention sites within their jurisdiction are properly maintained.
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are four wetlands in J&K which are under the convention in J&K and include Surinsar-Mansar Lakes of Jammu, Wular and, Hokersar in Kashmir Valley and Tsomoriri, a freshwater to brackish lake in Ladakh.
The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and the Convention’s member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet.
