J-K govt sets up panel for river rejuvenation

The Jammu and Kashmir government has set up a panel to formulate an action plan for the revival of polluted rivers in the state.

The State Administrative Council (SAC) under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik approved the sanction to constitute the River Rejuvenation Committee which will formulate and execute an action plan to revive the polluted river stretches in the state, an official spokesperson said.

According to the order issued by the General Administration Department, the Administrative Secretary of the Forest, the Environment & Ecology Department has been appointed as the chairman of the committee.

The committee will prepare an action plan within two months of its constitution and will be responsible to clean the polluted river stretches at least for the purpose of bathing within six months from the date of finalisation of the action plan, the order said.

Further, the committee will also be responsible to monitor the execution of the action plan.

The committee shall work under the Forest, Environment & Ecology Department and is constituted under the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines for rejuvenation of polluted river stretches, the order stated.