Blue line Survey to demarcate encroachments in Kham River

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, July 4:

The district collector Sunil Chavan today ordered the office of the Command Area and Development Authority (CADA) to conduct a ‘Blue-line Survey’ of Kham River, soon. It is feared that the rise in encroachments on the ridge of the river has narrowed the actual width of the river bed and an emergency may emerge during the monsoon.

“ The river passes through the jurisdiction of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the CADA office comes under the jurisdiction of the District Administration, therefore, they have been told for the survey,” said Chavan.

Earlier, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had received complaints relating to the Kham River encroachments in February 2022. Accordingly, the survey of the river, its banks, and its bed were made regularly. It has come to notice that there is a need to remove the encroachments to restore the actual width of the river bed and smoothen the flow of rainwater during monsoon without any obstruction.

There was a flood-like situation in Kham River during the last three years. The administration had to walk through a tight rope to ease the situation and brought things under control, it is learnt.

What is Blue-line Survey

The survey is marking of actual boundary or bed of the river with blue ink on paper. The survey will evaluate how many times the Kham River had witnessed floods in the last 25 years. Later on, a plan maintaining the width and depth of the river bed, on both sides the bed, is drafted for implementation. The number of encroachments falling on the Blue-line will be removed at any cost to restore the river bed, said the official sources.