PM’s intervention sought to save water bodies

Varanasi: After a long wait for authorities to act, local organisations struggling for the conservation of water bodies in the city have now sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention.
The apathy of high-powered committee for conservation of waterbodies encourages land sharks to continue their menace, threatening the existence of water bodies in the city.If SN Gaud, the head of Janadhikar Evam Swapak Nishedh Apradh Niyantran Janch Bureau that had filed PIL in Allahabad High Court to save waterbodies, is to be believed, the committee’s meeting had not taken place for past two years.
The district magistrate and committee’s chairman Pranjal Yadav also admitted that the committee’s meeting could not be organised due to massive engagement in other important works.
The apathy of government officials towards the issue is shocking because as per the directives of HC, regular monitoring and submission of bi-monthly report on the condition of ponds by Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) was a must. After the judiciary tightened noose on local authorities, a massive exercise was conducted in the district in 2009.
During this drive a status report on the condition of ponds and kunds in city area revealed many horrifying facts. The district administration had prepared a a list of 63 ponds out of which only eight were found to be free from encroachment or disputes. The issue of 13 ponds is still lingering in the high court or lower courts.
The drives carried out by the officials resulted in removal of encroachers from some waterbodies by 2011. However, with the change in guard in Lucknow in 2012, this exercise was again put on the backburner. This apathy of officials encouraged the land sharks to intensify their menace.
The practices of filling of waterbodies for plotting, construction of residential or commercial buildings can be seen by moving in the localities like Sigra, Madhopur, Tulsipur and others. The association of land sharks with influential leaders of the ruling party and also some bureaucrats is sufficient to hint the reason for overlooking their malpractices.
More shocking is to see some officials justifying the filling of waterbodies by mentioning the pressure of population and requirement of land for housing in city areas. They consider that distorting facts in land revenue records to make the properties mentioned as water bodies is not possible without the involvement of staff of the departments concerned.
Divisional commissioner and patron of committee R M Srivastava said the issue is being reviewed by him. He said that the VMC and other departments have been directed to measure the area of waterbodies and go for demarcation of priority.
However, a worried Gaud claimed that the officials were not looking interested in compliance of HC’s orders due to which a contempt application was also filed by his organization. Now Gaud has also forwarded an application to the PM through his constituency office to seek Modi’s intervention. He said that the PM’s intervention was sought because not only the ponds and kunds but even the rivers like Varuna and Asi have become endangered, courtesy land sharks.