HC bars fuel-run boats on Dal Lake, pushes for cleaner alternatives | India News
SRINAGAR: J&K high court directed authorities Thursday to ensure no fuel-powered motorboats, including motorised shikaras and jet skis, operate on Srinagar’s Dal Lake in a move that would halt 166 such vessels.The HC cited growing pollution for the curbs — which came in the middle of the tourist season — and directed govt to explore whether fuel-powered boats could be replaced with solar-powered or battery-run alternatives.“This court is convinced that in modern times, when lake systems have become a growing concern for civilisation, steps are being taken to exclude activities which would cause pollution. It would be also important that whatever policy is framed is more reasonable while balancing tourism activities, pollution, as well as uniformity between the players involved,” a division bench of Chief Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajesh Sekhri said.The bench made it clear that the restrictions would apply with immediate effect. “In case any motorised boat is allowed to ply, it shall be held as contempt of today’s order,” the HC said.Fuel boats used by the administration for emergency services, law and order, disaster management and rescue operations will be exempted from the order, the HC said. This came after additional advocate-general (AAG) Mohsin Qadri, appearing for govt, argued that such boats be spared.The order came on a batch of petitions by some owners of fuel-run boats who had moved the HC against the transport department’s failure to renew their licences. They argued that the delay violated their fundamental rights to life and livelihood. During the hearing, AAG Qadri conceded that pollution was a problem and called for a balance between tourism and cleanliness of the lake. Qadri also highlighted Dal’s civilisational importance for J&K.
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“Solar boats and electric (battery) boats could be a solution for balancing the equities between tourism and sustenance of the lake,” the bench said. CJ Bhati and Justice Sekhri directed govt to submit to consult experts and come up with a comprehensive policy on whether solarised or battery-run boats would be a solution. The case will be heard next on Oct 30.
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