Encroachments on Bindal riverbed an invite to disaster

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22

Encroachments on the Bindal and Rispana riverbanks and riverbeds is an invitation to disaster with the monsoon approaching.

These rivers have overflown several times in the past. If such a scenario occurs, it could prove disastrous for the families residing illegally on their riverbeds and banks.

Encroachments have increased manifold in the past few years. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has stated that both these rivers fall under the Ganga basin, so must be kept free of encroachment but the situation is an antithesis.

Encroachers have even occupied tributaries. One such encroachment is coming up near the Bakralwala bridge, one of the key tributaries of the Bindal river. Area residents said the construction was being done on a fast pace in the middle of the tributary near the Dehradun Municipal Corporation ward office.

Asked about the issue, councillor Ramesh Butola said he was yet to receive any complaint about it.

He, however, admitted that rampant encroachments on riverbeds were a major cause of flooding in the region.

Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD), a voluntary organisation of the local youth, has been working for rejuvenation of the Bindal and Rispana rivers. It has been opposing encroachments in these rain-fed rivers. MAD founding president Abhijay Negi said encroachments must be dealt with sternly and removed promptly. “We have been urging the government to order a blanket ban on the construction on riverbeds and encroachments in the Bindal and Rispana rivers,” he added.