Srinagar, March 17
Chairman of the breakaway group of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken into preventive custody along with four others in north Kashmir today, official sources said.

They said Geelani was taken into custody by the police at Mirgund on the Srinagar-Baramula road. Four others, including Geelani’s secretary, were also taken into custody by the police.

A spokesman of the HC Aiyaz Akbar said Geelani was on way to Baramula when the police arrested him.

He said Geelani was scheduled to address a public meeting besides today’s congregation there.

Geelani, who was invited to attend the World Social Forum Conference at Karachi in Pakistan, was again denied travel documents by the Indian government, the spokesman said.

He could not attend the Pahgwash conference in Pakistan after he was not issued passport and travel documents by the authorities. He was invited to attend the five-day conference being held from March 24.

‘‘We were told in clear terms by the Regional Passport Office (RPO) here that Geelani would not be issued passport,’’ Mr Aiyaz informed.

Geelani’s passport was impounded for his anti- India stand on Kashmir issue. However, last year, he was allowed to perform Haj after being denied permission for five years. — UNI

Jammu, March 17
The Opposition National Conference (NC) members today grilled the Jammu and Kashmir Government for the slow pace of work for the conservation of the Dal Lake in Srinagar.

The issue was raised during question hour when a number of queries were tabled by the members pertaining to the neglect of the water bodies, particularly in the Kashmir valley.

The NC members pointed out that huge amount of financial grants from the Centre and various foreign organisations have been received from time to time for preservation of the Dal Lake, but there was hardly any progress on the ground.

The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Mr Tariq Hameed Qara, had a difficult time in satisfying the members on the issue as he had to face a volley of questions from the Opposition members.

The minister said the lakes and waterways development authority, which was looking after conservation and management of Dal and Nageen lakes in Srinagar, has spent a sum of Rs 30.27 crore during the past two years. A sum of Rs 44.59 lakh has been spent on the Wullar Lake during the period. He said illegal constructions and encroachments in the Dal and Nageen lake area cover an area of 2201 kanals, out of which the authority has so far cleared an area of 1508 kanals. 38 kanals of the encroached land has been dredged out and 850 illegal structures have been demolished.

The minister said according to the revenue records, 68,267 kanals of land around the Wullar Lake and 30 kanals around the Manasbal Lake are under occupation.

He said 20 lakh cubic metres of landmass containing 70 tons of phosphorus and 281 tonnes of nitrogen have been removed from the Dal and Nageen Lakes. The positive scientific indicators of the activity were an increase of 40 per cent transparency of water, reduction of nutrient build up to the tune of 30 per cent. Two hamlets of fishermen near Habak in the lake have also been dredged out and the dislocated persons have been rehabilitated elsewhere.

In a written reply to Mr Mir Saifullah (NC), the minister denied that the Dal Lake was shrinking due to negligence of the government. The floating vegetable fields created by the dwellers of the lake and construction of thousand of houses within the water body were among various reasons that have contributed towards its shrinking.