Editorial
Canal reclamation enters crucial phase
It's a test of political will now
UNDER a composite campaign for freeing rivers and water bodies from the clutches of grabbers and polluters, a serious effort has got underway to reclaim canals lost to illegal occupancy and construction of all kinds over time. The land survey authority has, at long last, determined location of 43 derelict water channels and, moreover, identified individuals and institutions holding these in illegal possession.
Now that the authority has demarcated the lost canals on the basis of records and made bold to name the encroachers to the parliamentary standing committee on land ministry, the public now look forward to see an effective eviction drive in progress. The parliamentary standing committee is understood to have decided to refer the matter to the prime minister for her directives considering that the encroachers are mostly powerful and influential people who had managed to remain untouched by law through successive governments. So, it requires intervention from no less a person than the head of government. Some of them may have fake documents to produce and with judiciary's cooperation which has been forthcoming as far as the overall campaign goes, the mess can certainly be cleared and the canals restored.
Multi-storied buildings housing markets and educational institutions and residences stand where once flowed the canals. This is utterly disdainful of the law of the land denying the city vital breathing spaces, sustainable environment and natural drainage channels without which the metropolis is fraught with severe water-logging in normal rains, let alone heavy downpour.
There is no question that the citizens are unified behind the cause of ridding the canals of the illegal occupants. The government is not only strongly mandated to bring change, it has also from time to time demonstrated its commitment to save the moribund water bodies. Ultimately it is a test of political will which we believe the government will demonstrate in good measure to reclaim the canals to the city. If necessary, the existing laws should be given more teeth.
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