Supreme Court directed J&K government to restore Dal Lake

The Supreme Court on 1 July 2014 directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to concentrate on efforts to restore the pristine beauty of the world-famous Dal Lake.

A Supreme Court Bench of Justice T S Thakur and Justice C Nagappan gave directions rejecting the plea of the J&K government for discounting the service of Irfan Yasin, the Vice Chairman of the Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA).

Besides, the Supreme Court also directed that State government have to obey with all the directions of the High Court of J & K concerning the restoration of Dal Lake and to prevent pollution and encroachments in the periphery of Dal Lake.

Background

Earlier, the High Court had directed the state government to appoint a full-time official as the chairperson of the J&K LAWDA but as the deadline for appointment was reaching, the government gave additional charge of the Lake Authority to an already serving official.

In the absence of regular chairperson of LAWDA, State government extended the term of Irfan Yasin, Vice Chairman of LAWDA, who was due to superannuate on 31 March 2014. The State government of J&K challenged the directions of High Court in the Supreme Court in the extension of term of Yasin, Vice Chairman of LAWDA.