Experts raise alarm over dumping of Jhelum’s dredged material

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 21

Despite the Central government’s financial support, the dredging of the Jhelum has put the J&K Government in a difficult situation as the disposal of excavated material may need over thousands of kanals.

Experts have raised an alarm as the department is disposing silt and sand excavated from the river in low-lying areas of Srinagar which may lead to another 2014-like floods. 

Urban planner Iftikhar Drabu said the dumping of the excavated material in “low-lying areas or water bodies” around the city would create another catastrophe.

A Kolkata-based company, Reach Dredgers, has been tasked with the mechanical dredging of 7,00,000 cubic metres in the Srinagar stretch and 9,15,000 cubic metres in the Baramulla stretch of the Jhelum. This is in addition to the removal of over eight lakh cubic metres of sand and silt from the Jhelum and its spill-over channel by the Irrigation  Department. 

Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Javid Jaffar said: “The company carrying out the dredging work in the Jhelum will sell the excavated material and empty the land within 15 days, but before that, it has to be disposed of at a nearby place.” 

He said the excavated material from the Shivpora stretch of the Jhelum in Srinagar was dumped in a private land at Gad-Henzpora, Rajbagh.