Incidents of land encroachments have massively increased over the last three decades in Srinagar with people taking particular fancy to the outskirts of the city. Right before our eyes, people without any regard to public welfare and laws are changing the landscape of the city and shrinking our roads, pastures, and waterways. What havoc we have made of our rivers, streams, and lakes September 14 deluge taught us bitterly. The encroachments by their very nature are unplanned and thus destroy the landscaping quotient and create an imbalance in the hydraulic system of the valley. Much water flowed down the Jhelum since the land settlement done by Walter Lawrence in 1885 when Dogra Maharaja Ranbir Singh ruled Kashmir. Even though there is not much left of Kahcharai, a huge increase in milk production and livestock has been witnessed in all these decades. And it surged with the passage of time. Today nearly one-third, we have lost the fascinating Dal lake. The same holds true for Wular lake. River Jhelum we have choked. Sprawling paddy fields were overnight converted into residential colonies. On wetlands, landfilling was done in no time and soon we had the entire hydraulic system of Kashmir blocked permanently by these unplanned colonies. Even though the administration has given clear instructions to carry out thorough inspections of these areas but right under the nose of the inspecting officials encroachments are going on. People are making hay while the sun is shining. The administration must act quickly and decisively against these encroachments. We cannot allow a bunch of greedy people to take over the city while we watch helplessly as mute spectators. The time for action against these culprits must be started as soon as possible.
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