The State Government recently banned construction on river banks, but even before that, existing rules were ignored by successive State Governments to facilitate constructions on river banks with the Vidhan Sabha and Prasar Bharti buildings being constructed on banks of the Rispana in Dehradun.
There are many such examples of buildings being made by the Government on river banks, even though this was not feasible as the buildings and occupants face the threat of floods during the monsoon. Unplanned development is a major anomaly visible across the State, especially in the capital Dehradun.
Apart from private constructions and encroachments on river banks, even the Government has constructed its important buildings, including the Vidhan Sabha and Prasar Bharti State office on the banks of the Rispana where the boundaries of the building compounds are liable to be eroded or breached during flood in the river. The Suddhowala district jail on the outskirts of Dehradun city is also built on the banks of the Song river which had entered the jail last year during the monsoon, causing panic among the inmates and damaging property worth lakhs of rupees.
Apart from this, different buildings, including the Khadi and Gramudyog department residential colony and various Government offices, are built besides the Kadhai Khala seasonal stream in the Bhopalpani area. This stream is prone to transform into a river in spate following heavy rains. Those occupying these buildings are trapped inside as two channels flowing on either side prevent them from making an exit after heavy rains.
Talking to The Pioneer, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli stressed on the need for the government to fix a specific policy regarding rivers and constructions on river banks. Referring to the Vidhan Sabha and Prasar Bharti buildings on Rispana's banks, he said, "If the Government itself constructs important buildings on river banks then it becomes difficult to deal strictly with people building on banks. For many years, I have been asking the Irrigation Department to measure and declare the width of rivers in the city, but no action has been taken yet. Considering various factors including the outcomes of climate change, there is need for conducting a hydrological survey to ascertain the dimensions of rivers and the quantity of water flowing in them at different time periods," he said.
According to the Dehradun Master Plan prepared by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), at least 10 feet land on both sides of the rivers was reserved for dense tree plantation. However, this point has been ignored and violated blatantly even by the Government which is supposed to implement the master plan.