In next three years, there will be no lily weeds on Dal Lake: J&K LAWDA

The J&K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) officials have claimed that there will be no lily weeds on Dal Lake in the next three years.

The government had spent a vast amount of money on cleaning Dal Lake; however, questions were raised now and then over the approach taken by the administration and LAWDA over cleaning the water body.

Though LAWDA has been using manual methods and machines for the de-weeding process, the result seemed to be otherwise. But, with administration led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha showing seriousness in cleaning the Dal Lake, much is being done on the ground for the past year.

Talking to TNN, Executive Engineer, Mechanical Division, Shafat Jeelani said, “One has to understand, what is really happening on the ground as people are not aware what the situation is.”

He added, “Basically, there are two types of weeds that are found on the Dal Lake, a normal one and other one is that of lily weeds. Lilly weeds over the centuries have spread from 0.5 square kilometres to 6 square kilometres, which has given so much of trouble to the authorities”.

“We have been using the manual method as well as the machines to extract the weeds from the Dal Lake. However, in a major development, with the department over last decade purchasing machines like that of weed harvester and lily extractor, things are getting very much better” Jeelani added.

“We are pretty sure that in the next three years that there will be no lily weeds on Dal Lake.” Further, about the other weeds, he said that they could not be extracted fully, as they are essential for the flora and fauna of Dal Lake.

“Also, if you look at the current scenario, senior government officials have been participating in Dal Lake cleaning process which was initiated by the LG J&K Manoj Sinha himself, which is a sign that we are moving a right direction, which will eventually lead to a good result,” he added.

Asked about the recent agreement between LAWDA and the National Agricultural Marketing Federation of India (NAFEED) for construction, operation, and management of scientific disposal of harvested seeds from Dal Lake and Nigeen Lakes, he said, “We have identified the land, the process is in the early stages. We are hopeful that we will get the result we are looking for within one year or so”.

Further, an official said that during the Swachhta Pakhwada program, which concluded on 16th October. The LAWDA has undertaken lily extraction from an area of 2.5 square kilometres on a large scale with the deployment of 16 pontoon-based machines, an innovative method experienced for the first time.