The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) says that 90% of valley hotels and restaurants do not meet any environmental standards
SPCB regrets lack of action against polluting hotels, restaurants, houseboats…
Zeenat Zeeshan Fazil (Kashmir Images)
Srinagar: Notwithstanding the ever-increasing pollution of water-bodies in Kashmir, the hotels, restaurants, houseboats and health-care units all are contributing to the pollution of lakes and rivers here.
Displaying sheer indifference to the issue of pollution, not many of these establishments situated on the banks of world-famous Dal Lake or River Jehlum and other water-bodies have so far come up with proper sewage and liquid disposal mechanisms.
The sewage coming out of these hostels, houseboats and restaurants finds its way directly into the water-bodies including the already dying Dal Lake.
According to the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), there are only 30 percent of the hotels and restaurants in the Valley who have obtained No Objection Certificate (NOC) from SPCB whereas 70 percent of them along the Boulevard, at Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other tourist resorts are yet to obtain clearance from SPCB.
“These establishments are openly violating the norms and rules laid down by Central Pollution Board under Environment Protection Act,” officials at SPCB confess.
Speaking to ‘Kashmir Images’, Regional Director, SPCB, Mian Javed Hussain said, “Some 70 percent of the hotels and restaurants are running their commercial establishments without having obtained NOC from SPCB which is mandatory for running any commercial establishment under Environment Protection Act.
“These hotels and restaurants are contributing to the pollution of environment and water-bodies and are clearly violating the norms laid down by State Pollution Control Board.”
And going by the exact details as provided by SPCB, the amount of pollution is far more than what percentage figures communicate.
“In this 70 percent we have taken only Class I and Class II hotels and restaurants and not ‘dabas’ or cafeterias which too are violating pollution norms; and if we include them also, then percentage of polluting establishments will go up and will touch more than 90 percent,” Mian Javed informed.
These hotels and restaurants further aggravate the environment pollution once they switch over to gensets for electricity which are potential sources of obnoxious gases like carbon and sulphur.
“We have already directed them to make use of green gensets which are both pollution- and noise-free and can save environment to a great extent,” Mian Javed informed.
Asked what about those units who are not following the rules, he says, “We are a regulatory body and can just notice the shortcomings and at the same time can direct violations to the District Magistrate and other concerned agencies, and the implementation has to come from respective departments,” the officer said.
He also clarified that SPCB doesn’t give NOC to houseboats as “they are discharging all sewage directly into the Dal Lake which we can never approve of.”
“It seems that people here in Kashmir don’t have any concern for the environment. In other states hoteliers and restaurant-owners can run their units only after getting the NOC from concerned department and till then the registration is withheld; but here the hotels and restaurants are registered by the Tourism department without taking into consideration the basic criteria of vis-à-vis pollution,” Mian Javed regrets.
He informed that in 10 districts of Kashmir valley, SPCB has booked 257 hotels and restaurants and 65 health-care units (both government-owned and private ones) in the month of January alone for violating pollution norms
According to sources, the Tourism department too has compiled a list of some 90 percent hotels in Kashmir Valley who have not obtained NOC from SPCB. Even though this list was compiled some two years back, but due to the involvement of some big names the department is overlooking the issue and no action has been taken against the defaulting hotels so far, sources in SPCB said.
Director Tourism, Farooq Ahmed Shah was not available for comment.