Srinagar: The Government of JK in the Legislative Assembly informed that the water transport facility in Jhelum river has been suspended due to low water level.
This was stated in a written reply by the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh to a question by the PDP lawmaker Mohammad Ashraf Mir.
Singh added that once the water level increases, the service will be resumed. The water transport facility was started in July last year.
On July 24, 2017, the department had offered a subsidised service at Rs 25 per person and the service was offered twice a day from 10 am and 4 pm, he said. Singh, who holds Housing and Urban Development portfolio, said that Rs 1.50 crore was spent on the service as on date in the ongoing fiscal.
In response to another part of the question, he said that over Rs 4 crore was spent on removal of weed from the Dal Lake in the last three years.
Singh said that Rs 60 lakh was spent in 2014-15, over Rs 1.85 crore in 2015-16 and over Rs 1.55 crore in 2016-17.
The Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) is undertaking manual and mechanical harvesting wherein the weed is removed from the lake by way of engaging labourers near the shore line and deploying machines in the deeper portions, he said.
“The lake looks bad when the macrophytes have an uncontrolled growth.