The News Craving
Newscraving Desk:
Srinagar,
Early morning a row of women sit by the side of the Doodh Ganga river to defecate into it in the Central Kashmir area of Chadoora. The river supplies water to most of Kashmir. The non locals who have come in droves to settle down on an open government land here in the tin sheds have also raised toilets along the banks of the river. A long stretch of the road has also been illegally occupied. The children smeared in dust and the women go out for begging during the day and the movement of passersby has become difficult due to the occupation of the long stretches of land here.
Last month on an open land, which was earlier retrieved by the government from the locals, a frenzied construction activity took place. Logs of wood and tin sheds became a common scene here adjacent to the local Degree College.
Local residents said that the authorities need to act against the people who have occupied large swathes of road on the banks of the river. “ There is mushrooming growth of non locals settling down illegally here,” said a local resident Mushtaq Ahmad. “ We fear that the crime incidents will increase in the area. There is a need to remove them from the place,” he added.
The scene of non locals defecating in the river and even releasing waste material into it has riled the local people. Interestingly they have been allowed to occupy the land when some of them are well-off. The men are seen riding the two-wheelers which have Jammu and Kashmir registration numbers and the entire stretch of the road adjacent to the local mosque has been occupied making it difficult for the pedestrians to pass by. “ We shouldn’t let our water bodies turn into new encroachment spots,” added another resident, Shakeel Ahmad.
The encroachments have been raised on the part of the land which the government has designated for establishing a bus stand. A proposal is to lay a road on a part of the land and to set up a bus stop to overcome the traffic congestion in the town. Local residents said that the authorities have also earmarked the land which can be used to lay a road. This is to avoid daily hours of congestion on the main road in the town due to heavy vehicular movement.