Officials of Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA) Friday alleged they were assaulted by employees of Municipal Council Sopore after the former tried to stop them from dumping waste on the banks of Wular Lake.
The WUCMA officials lodged a complaint in this regard with police station Tarzoo. They alleged that the MC Sopore employees were destroying the “evidence” of dumping waste on the banks of Wular ahead of a likely visit by Chief Justice of J&K High Court to the garbage dumping sites.
The complaint stated: “WUCMA team came under assault at Ningli-Tarzoo Sopore. The assault was carried out by officials of Municipal Council Sopore who were present at Ningli-Tarzoo and were dumping waste there.”
It said the officials of Municipal Council Sopore were erecting tin wall fencing and pitching soil on waste within boundaries of Wular to destroy evidence of dumping waste on the banks of the water body.
The complaint said since the activities of MC Sopore are in violation of High Court, National Green Tribunal orders and Wetland Conservation Rules, the WUCMA team in official capacity and in compliance of directions from superiors initiated action in the instant matter and restrained them from doing these illegal activities.
However, the complaint said, the violators who were present at the site did not pay any heed and on the contrary stopped WUCMA officials from performing their official duty.
“They abused and manhandled us at the site. The team was however rescued by the locals. During the operation, one mixer was seized after lot of hardship,” said the complaint.
WUCMA also mentioned about a video clip “to corroborate its allegations against MC Sopore”.
A police official from police station Tarzoo (Amargarh) said they have received complaints from both the departments.
“Let us see if the matter may be resolved amicably. Otherwise law will take its own course,” the official said.
Earlier, the Central Auqaf Committee Tarzoo-Dharnambal, an amalgam of eight Auqaf Committees of the area, had filed a PIL seeking slew of directions to the Union Ministry of Environment and the J&K government for the conservation of Wular.
The plea prayed for a direction to the MC Sopore to stop dumping of municipal solid waste on the Ramsar wetland site situated at Dharnambal-Ningli Tarzoo in Sopore which falls within the delineated periphery pillars of the Wular Conservation and Management Authority and also within the limits of Hygam-Ningli-Tarzoo Tourism development authority.
The coordinator WUCMA, Irfan Rasool, while confirming the incident said that MC Sopore “is developing a dumping site at Ningli Sopore which is a part of Wular lake. Their activities are in violation of the directions issued by NTG and Wetland Conservation Rules.”
He said they have also formally lodged a complaint against the MC Sopore at police station Tarzoo.