The Dal may be dying but its ever polluting waters and shrinking shores are filling pockets of its government appointed protectors. In its bid to prevent this loot in the name of the preservation of Dal Lake, J-K’s top anti-corruption body – State Vigilance Organisation – has already chargesheeted more than fifty officials of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) in seven brazen cases of corruption while more than a dozen other similar cases are still under investigation.

The fate of these cases and their outcome expose government apathy towards this picturesque water body which is the flagship of Kashmir tourism and an inseparable facet of the identity of Srinagar city. Here is a scan through the Vigilance Organisation’s seven anti-corruption cases and how government’s own officials turned the Save Dal lake endeavour into a money minting project.

* On September 9, 2000, Vigilance registered a case (33/2000-VOK) against sixteen officials including a director of the LAWDA. The case has already been chargesheeted. According to Vigilance, the officials of the LAWDA had drawn huge funds during implementation of deweeding and skimming programme and violated the codal formalities to benefit favourites, causing loss to the state exchequer.

Those chargesheeted by the Vigilance included Khursheed Ahmad Shahdad , executive engineer, LAWDA, division-II, Mohammad Rashid-din Kundangar, director, LAWDA, Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Khan, assistant accounts officers, LAWDA, division II, Ghulam Mohammad Chiloo , junior engineer, Abdul Majid Shah, junior engineer, Nayera Taban scientist – A, Mukhtar Ahmed Buch , junior engineer, Tahir Mehmood, senior technician, Asmat Buch, scientist – A, Shafat Hussain Qadimi, Assistant Executive Engineer, division-II, Altaf Hussain Mir, junior engineer, division-II, Srinagar, Imtiyaz Ahmad Gani, junior engineer, division-II, Showkat Ahmad Najar, junior engineer, division, Shakeel Abbas, junior engineer, Rafiq Ahmad Zaz, junior engineer and Altaf Ahmad Bhat, Assistant Executive Engineer.

... contd.