by Muhammad Nadeem
Upholding national policies like the Wetlands Rules 2017, while tailoring strategies to the local context, can help reverse the tide of degradation. Srinagar’s wetlands represent the region’s ecological wealth – preserving them is imperative for both nature’s and residents’ sake.
Wetlands play a vital ecological and socioeconomic role in Jammu and Kashmir. However, in recent decades, these wetlands have come under severe anthropogenic pressure, facing threats such as pollution, encroachment, and drainage issues. As highlighted in the source text, wetlands in Srinagar have declined drastically from 102 km2 in 1911 to only 10.9 km2 by 2004. Specific cases reflect this alarming trend of degradation.
For instance, Anchar Lake covered 19.54 sq km in the 1890s (Lawrence, 1895) but has now shrunk to just 4.26 km2. The main factors driving this 89 per cent reduction are waste dumping and discharge from hospitals and wastewater plants. Similarly, Dal Lake has witnessed extensive encroachment and proliferation of settlements, with its area reducing from 32 sq km in 1859 to only 24 sq km presently. About 1,200 houseboats on Dal Lake are also major sources of untreated sewage. BrariNambal lagoon has witnessed a 23 per cent decline in the area from 1971 to 2002. The wetland is now choked with effluents from a dysfunctional sewage treatment plant constructed on its southern edge.
The Hokersar wetland, designated as a Ramsar site in 2005, has lost 5.75 sq km of its area over the past four decades. Deforestation and siltation have caused the wetland depth to decline from 1.12m in 1980 to just 0.63m by 2002. Invasive macrophytic species have also proliferated here. As per research. (1978), the water quality of Hokersar wetland has deteriorated drastically as well over the past few decades.
Overall, the five major drivers behind wetland loss in Srinagar are urban expansion into wetland areas, drainage issues relating to encroachment of channels, siltation from deforestation, sewage and agricultural runoff causing eutrophication, and unplanned construction. Reversing these destructive trends is crucial, as wetlands provide a range of ecological services, such as flood control, biodiversity conservation, water purification and groundwater recharge. They also have major cultural and economic significance, underlying agriculture, fisheries, and tourism in the region.
Protecting these valuable ecosystems requires prohibiting encroachments, regulating pollution sources like sewage, restoring wetland hydrology and bathymetry, increasing community stewardship through education programs, and integrating wetlands into urban planning. Srinagar urgently needs an integrated wetland management plan centred on conservation, sustainable use and restoration principles. Failing to act now will greatly compound the impacts of disasters like the 2014 Kashmir floods, as the wetlands’ floodwater absorption capacities decline further.
Upholding national policies like the Wetlands Rules 2017, while tailoring strategies to the local context, can help reverse the tide of degradation. Srinagar’s wetlands represent the region’s ecological wealth – preserving them is imperative for both nature’s and residents’ sake.
Here is a list from the Kashmîr Life archives that will help the readers:
Parvez Yousef, a master’s student residing in Chatlam, fights against hunting and poaching during the winter season.
The NC constructed a towering gate, Babul Iqbal, on the main road in 2018, marking the formal entry into the main city.
The Hokersar wetland, the queen of wetlands, located on Srinagar’s outskirts, is dying. People living on its fringes are converting the wetland into a garbage dumping site, and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department has dug a deep outflow channel into the wetland.
A social activist initiated the first civilian effort to restore the freshwater lake, but authorities require chipping in to help move the mode.
Abdul Majeed has gone to court to protect a wetland that may soon become a playfield for schoolchildren. The forest minister supported his actions to prevent the vandalization of Sheikhsar.
How Pollution Kills Fish In Kashmir’s Oxygen-Deficient Lakes?
A large number of dead fish were found floating in Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, just after India concluded hosting a G20 meeting about tourism on the banks of the lake.
Water chestnuts harvested from Wullar Lake have helped Kashmir survive the worst days in the last 250 years, but traders are making the best of it.
Wullar Lake has shrunk over the last 100 years, and a five-year conservation plan has been proposed to save it.
The wetlands of Pampore, Kranchu, Manibug, Chandhaara, Narkara, Baednambal and Maligaam, once famous destinations, are now termed as not so important by the officials.
How the wetlands are being converted into commercial ventures in Kashmir districts.
The Jhelum river overflowed into Sonawari village, and it took villagers 25 days to get back into their crumbling houses.
Hokersar -The Heaven of Migratory Birds
Hokersar wetland is the heaven of migratory birds because tens of thousands of waterfowl choose to visit this wetland during winter. The warden and his team make sure that these guest birds enjoy their sojourn visit smoothly.
Over three lakh avian visitors come to Kashmir every year to luxuriate in the relatively tolerable milieu. They burst into a cacophony of sounds, breaking the routine silence.
Dal Lake: A Monograph
In the early 1990s, Prof Dr MRD Kundangar authored a detailed scientific monograph on the Dal Lake, which was later utilised in launching a full-fledged conservation project.
