Major lapses exposed in Dal Lake monitoring mechanism
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By Ovaise Gul
- Comments 0
- 09 Apr 2026
CAG report flags non-functional committees, no quarterly meetings Rs 1.50 cr unutilised; TPI not appointed despite approval
Srinagar, Apr 09: In a major revelation, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has exposed the serious inadequacies in the monitoring mechanism for implementation of programmes related to Conservation and Management of Dal Lake, indicating a failure in the system across the statutory bodies.
The report states that due to non-holding of required meetings by statutory bodies such as the Project Coordination-cum-Monitoring Committee, Board of Directors, Scientific Advisory Committee and High-Level Committee, there were gaps in effective oversight. It noted that for proper implementation of programmes like NLCP and PMRP, monitoring should have been efficient to ensure objectives were achieved within timelines.
The Coordination-cum-Monitoring Committee (CMC), constituted in June 2006 and mandated to meet quarterly, held its first meeting in January 2007 with nine members. The second meeting took place in January 2015 after an eight-year gap, attended by eight members, with no meetings held thereafter. The Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UDD) maintained that meetings were held as required, but the audit termed the reply unacceptable.
Similarly, the Board of Directors (BoD) met only 23 times against the required 56 meetings up to September 2019, with just four meetings held between January 2015 and March 2022. The audit found the department’s response unsatisfactory.
The Monitoring Committee, constituted in April 2016 after a delay of over a decade, held 17 meetings till March 2019, but no follow-up action was taken. The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), meant to provide scientific guidance, was not reconstituted after June 2012 until November 2016 and met only eight times, falling short of quarterly requirements.
On impact assessment, the report mentioned that no Third Party Inspection (TPI) was appointed despite approval by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in December 2010.
As of March 2022, the reports stated that funds amounting to Rs 1.50 crore released for TPI remained unutilised. The audit rejected the department’s claim of using expert institutions in place of TPI, stating it did not comply with approved provisions.
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