{"id":94993,"date":"2022-05-25T15:35:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T10:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/?post_type=newss&p=94993"},"modified":"2022-05-25T15:36:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T10:06:32","slug":"jammy-and-kashmir-severe-siltation-and-pollution-in-kashmirs-largest-freshwater-lake-is-eroding-local-livelihoods-and-the-natural-habitat-of-native-plants-and-fish-species","status":"publish","type":"newss","link":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/newss\/jammy-and-kashmir-severe-siltation-and-pollution-in-kashmirs-largest-freshwater-lake-is-eroding-local-livelihoods-and-the-natural-habitat-of-native-plants-and-fish-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Jammy and Kashmir: Severe siltation and pollution in Kashmir’s largest freshwater lake is eroding local livelihoods, and the natural habitat of native plants and fish species"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hailed as one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, Wular is shrinking with an urgency hard to reverse. A flood basin for the Kashmir Valley, parts of the lake have turned into shallow streams, with vast expanses of the area covered in silt and dotted with solid waste. Around 34 km away from Srinagar, Wular lake in the Bandipora district of Jammu & Kashmir, has shrunk by 45% in about 100 years, as per a December 2018 study. The lake has dwindled from 157.74 sq km in 1911 to 86.71 sq km in 2007. In lean winter months, the lake area reduces to 24 sq km–about one-fifth of its original size.<\/p>\n
At least\u00a027 sq km\u00a0of the 130 sq km classified as the lake area by the state Revenue Department has been converted into willow plantation sites–identified as a\u00a0major cause\u00a0of siltation–at the cost of the natural habitat of migratory birds, fish and plant species.<\/p>\n
With the declining water levels and deteriorating water\u00a0quality, the lake and its surrounding areas have reported a sharp\u00a0decline\u00a0in bird and fish population in recent years. The bird population around the lake declined from 120,000 in 2020 to 707 in 2021, as per the Asian Water Bird Census\u00a0report. Meanwhile,\u00a0studies\u00a0show that several native fish species of the lake have disappeared over the years or are endangered.<\/p>\n
As much as 60% of Jammu & Kashmir’s fish produce is sourced from Wular lake and, at least 32,000 families from across 37 villages around the lake, including 2,300 fisher households, depend on the lake for their livelihood, state government body Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WCMA) told IndiaSpend. However, for the past few years, most of them have been struggling to make ends meet. Stopping the inflow of solid waste and dredging are the only solutions to reclaim the lake, particularly the 27 sq km of the willow plantation site that is critically silted, according to WCMA. The state body plans to cut 500,000 trees over 7.4 sq km of the lake to increase its water level.<\/p>\n
Eroding local livelihoods<\/b><\/p>\n
Shakeel Ahmad, 28, wakes up at 3.30 a.m. on most days to head to the lake, with his harpoon and a fishing net. He walks through narrow passages between scattered log huts to the open waters of Wular, in Qunis village in Bandipora district. With the dawn yet to break, he uses his flashlight to locate his boat. “The water seems to recede every morning,” Ahmad said. “Wullar has lost its depth. It is too shallow and sometimes it becomes hard to even row the boat in the lake.” It is 7 a.m. when Ahmad returns with his catch. “The fish are hard to come by. The harvest is too little compared to some years ago,” he said.<\/p>\n
Till about 10 years ago, Ahmad recalled, an average day would see his boat stacked with bucketfuls of fish. From a daily catch of 15-20 kg, it has now shrunk to 2-3 kg, on average. “This has plunged us into poverty and despair. We work hard, and in return for a day’s labour we get Rs 400 at most for 2-3 kg on a good day. It is hard to survive.” “We may cut our costs for now, but this can’t go on for long\u2026Five years from now, I don’t see how we will survive. Our lives depend on this lake.”<\/p>\n
WCMA officials estimate the total fish production from the lake to be around four-six tonnes annually. “There is no systematic marketing facility available for the produce extracted from Wular lake, which makes it difficult to estimate the revenue generated from the lake,” said Mudasir Ahmad, project coordinator at WCMA.<\/p>\n
Another resident of Bandipora district, 56-year-old Abdul Rashid Dar of Baniyar village, who has been extracting water chestnuts–the triangular fruit of an aquatic weed–from the lake for the past 40 years, fears that his livelihood is becoming unsustainable. WCMA officials said that at least 90% of the water chestnuts produced in Kashmir are sourced from Wular lake. However, owing to siltation and low water levels, chestnut extraction has become an uphill task. During peak winter, the locals have to create pools within the lake and pump in water through inlets to extract the nuts.<\/p>\n
“The water level of the lake reduces during winters, which impacts our livelihood,” said Dar, who earns around Rs 400 per day selling 10-15 kg of the nuts. “We are permitted [by the revenue department, which provides licences for extraction] to extract water chestnuts only between November and February, and for the last few years the lake has been very shallow.” “We fear that if the water level continues to decrease during the lean months, the time is not far when Wular will be bereft of the chestnuts forever.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Besides the reduced harvest of fish and water chestnut, the locals also lament the loss of\u00a0Nadroo<\/i>, lotus stem.<\/p>\n
“We used to extract tons of lotus stem from the lake,” said Abdul Khaliq, 55, sarpanch of Bangladesh village in Bandipora district. “But unfortunately, over the last ten years,\u00a0Nadroo,\u00a0<\/i>one of the cherished ingredients for many Kashmiri delicacies, has almost vanished from the lake.” He blames polythene pollution, siltation, and encroachment for the decline of\u00a0Nadroo\u00a0<\/i>in Wular lake.<\/p>\n
Solid waste polluting Wular<\/b><\/p>\n
“Wular is one of the most disturbed ecosystems of the Kashmir Valley,” says hydrologist and environmental activist M.R.D. Kundangar. “The major ailment of the wetland is siltation, which has already claimed most of it. The remaining 10% will also disappear unless corrective measures are taken.” “Polythene influx has degraded the lake’s water quality, posing a risk to residents who consume the water, and also to the fish, plant species and migratory and resident birds native to the lake.”<\/p>\n