If displaced from Dal then nowhere to go

The Dal Lake is unique because people live inside it in hamlets and houseboats and cultivate vegetables in the floating gardens within its waters. The pollution generated by this population – which is increasing – has put the very existence of the lake at stake.

According to the Detailed Project Report for the Conservation and Management of Dal-Nagin Lakes prepared by the University of Roorkee,one of the main problems facing these lakes was found to be the “increased pollution because of the increasing number of lake dwellers and floating gardens,entry of untreated sewage and solid waste from the peripheral areas and from the hamlets and house boats”.

To restore the lake of its previous glory,the Detailed Project Report (DPR) had proposed a Resettlement and Rehabilitation Plan for the people living within Dal and Nagin Lakes. It had proposed a strategy for shifting the major population of the lake,it recommended following criteria:

• Choosing hamlets,which cause greater pollution/degradation or need to be vacated for aesthetic considerations.

• Identifying the families willing to shift and making arrangements for them only.

• Determining and securing the resources required like finances,residential plots and agricultural land,institutional loans,settling people in business and handicrafts etc.

• The number of people to be shifted in any phase should be in accordance with the resources secured.

• Relief and Rehabilitation carried out to the satisfaction of shifted people,even if their number is small,is likely to result in the reduction of the population in the lake and ultimate achievement of the objective of lake conservation.

However,since the plan was proposed for the rehabilitation of lake dwellers,only 1200 families have so far been relocated.

According to the DPR,the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority had identified some rehabilitation sites with the number of families to be settled.

1. Housing Colony Panehkarwari- 435 plots (families)

2. Housing Colony Bolakadal – 30 plots (Families)

3. Housing Colony JKPCC Bagh- 41 plots (families)

4. Housing Colony Agro Bagh – 215 plots (families)

5. Housing Colony Devdibagh – 265 plots (families)

6. Housing Colony Bemina – 142 plots (families)

7. Housing Colony Habibullah – 301 plots approximately

8. Hareshwar – 301 plots Not developed

9. Chandpora – 300 plots(Proposed site)

Out of the 2000 plots said to be available,about 1200 families from the Dal lake have been shifted and have been allotted house plots. The report further reads,“Thus,at present,as against the requirement of 11,317 plots for similar number of families,there exists only about 1266 plots.”

According to the report,the LAWDA has identified 3000 kanals each at Sangam Idgah,Khonmoh and Bemina,which means about 9000 kanals,and have moved a proposal.

The Lake dwellers however have other problems in complying with the government.

“The government says they will relocate us to some other place and will pay us some money in return,but the amount government is offering to the families here solves no problems,” says Bilal,a resident of Aakhon Mohalla in Nagin Lake.

Bilal’s father is the “owner” of many kanals of land within the Dal-Nagin lakes. “The government is offering us 3 lakh 25 thousand rupees for one kanal of land. But we get a single plot for 12 lakh rupees. Even if one has three kanals of land,he will get only around ten lakh rupees which is just not possible,” says Muhammad Shafi,a Dal resident.

The Dal dwellers allege that they are directly or indirectly dependent on the lake for their survival. “Our livelihood comes from the lake,if the government plans to relocate us,it will have to think something of our livelihoods as well,otherwise we will go hungry” Shafi adds.

The DPR,which had put forth the rehabilitation plan,however proves otherwise. In a survey conducted by the Roorkee University in 2000 (when the population of the lake dwellers was 38,797) to gather information about the lake dwellers,it was found that the number of persons earning from within the lake is 7,870 while 7,728 people have livelihood from other sources. The remaining 23,199 were found to be unemployed,though they were found helping their families in cultivation,carpet weaving etc. It means that 49.54 percent of the Dal dwellers earn their livelihood from other sources.

This finding gains importance in view of the lake dwellers claiming that Dal is their only source of income. The survey covered 105 mohallas,which were divided into 22 areas on the basis of topography.