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“Panchana dam behind sad state of Keoladeo Park”

JAIPUR: Environmentalists in Rajasthan rue the construction of Panchana dam on the Gambhir river which is blocking the flow of rain water to the world famous Keoladeo National Park (KNP) in down stream Bharatpur district.

Ever since the dam became fully operational in 2003, the villagers in the neighbourhood of Panchna dam, built without any proper assessment of the requirement of the World Heritage site as well as the farmlands downstream, have not allowed the release of the water from the reservoir.

“Panchna dam has already caused economic and ecological ruin in the recent past as natural flow of the Gambhir river was stopped. It has led to devastation of the aquatic character of the KNP, which is devoid of flowing water during annual monsoon. It has also downscaled the economy of thousands of agriculturalists along the banks of the river and around the Keoladeo Park,” Harsh Vardhan, who had petitioned against the stoppage of water to the Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court sometime in past, observes.

Mr.Vardhan thinks that lack of political will has led to the present situation.

As such the area is fully politicised with the recent Gujjar-Meena confrontation over the issue of Scheduled Tribe status to the former worsening it.

Union Minister of State for Environment Namo Narain Meena belongs to the region.

“The present political order should take the entire blame for allowing or encouraging such nasty issues to mount to the conflict level. Whether sarpanch, legislator, Parliamentarian or Minister, those found dividing society’s well knit tapestry, should face boycott from the party they belong to,” he says.

“Instigating conflicts over water is against the norms of natural justice and would ultimately defeat the objectives of those who engineer them,” Mr. Vardhan warns.

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