Srinagar: To check illegal constructions within and around the Dal Lake, the government will use drones to conduct an aerial survey of the Dal and adjoining Nigeen lake this month.
The decision to conduct the aerial survey has come on the recommendations of a Committee of Experts constituted by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The HC had in April last year directed the Surveyor Authority of India (SAI) to undertake a survey of the Dal Lake to demarcate its boundary and put a halt on the encroachments.
It said a drone-based photogrammetric survey should be conducted to obtain high resolution orthomosaics to be used to create computer-aided design and geographic information system-based map. “Successive aerial surveys would be undertaken once every six months to acquire fresh temporal change data sets,” said VC LAWDA Tufail Mattoo, adding that drones would be used to carry out surveys of Dal and Nigeen lakes.
“The drones will likely start work within the next 20-25 days and it would help us monitor and curb encroachment,” he said.
“Due to the lockdown this process could not start on time but we will try our best to start this process very soon, so that illegal construction in the Dal is stopped,” he said.
Mattoo said that for using drones, permission has to be obtained from Air Traffic Control Station and in this regard a meeting was held with Divisional Commissioner Kashmir.
“All security people have been taken on board and now it is a matter of time and they are waiting for final approval from the administration,” he said.
“In the last three months we have demolished more than 50 structures in and around Dal Lake,” Mattoo informed.

NAZIMA SIDIQ