SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s famed water chestnut that Wular lake produces on its margins has started. Also called Water caltrop, it is basically the seed of an aquatic weed that is one of the finest diets for diabetics. In Kashmir’s history, the nut has been vital, in many regimes as important as currency. Even top officers were being paid in Singhara, the local name of the chestnut.
Here are some of the images from the Wullar lake taken near the Zurimaz village.
Kashmiri village women collect water chestnuts on their boats from the waters of Wular Lake at Bandipora, north of Srinagar on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. Water chestnuts are locally known as “singara” and are eaten raw, boiled or grounded into flour after being sun-dried. KL Image: Bilal BahadurAyesha Begum, the old lady said she is forced by the situation to row her boat and get into water nut harvesting as she has no other resource to feed her paralysed granddaughters, whose father was murdered by their mother. KL Image: Bilal BahadurThese women are literally in a mint, they can pick as many as they can. But harvesting water chestnuts is a tedious process. KL Image: BIlal Bahadur
From a distance, it looks fascinating to look at the vast swathes of water that grow the water chestnuts. This has been the secondary, if not primary occupations of tens of thousands of people inhabiting the Wullar margins but life has always been tough. KL Image: Bilal BahadurMen transporting harvested chestnuts from Shikaras to sell them to local traders in north Kashmir’s Bandipora. Normally, every evening the traders purchase the harvest of the day and row it in their boats to their stores. KL Image: Bilal BahadurIt is evening and the day’s harvest needs to be sold. Not every harvester sells it the same day. People take it home, process it and after drying it, it gets a better price. KL Image: Bilal BahadurThe chestnut trade is a major source of income for many families in villages located along the lake including Lankrishipora, Kunzpora, Kulhama, Garoora, Saderkoot, Banyari, Bakhchibal, Laharwalpora, Kanibathi, Kehnusa, Ashtangu, Kema and Zurimanz. This group is on their way home after spending the day harvesting the chestnut. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
