Bashir Ahmad had been earning a handsome amount from angling fish from Wular lake for the last three decades.
Ahmad would catch more than 30 kilograms of fish – quite enough to fill the belly of his family members – in a single day.
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He would spend some extra bucks on the education of his children and help his family to earn livelihood.
Only six years back, this was his daily routine. He was happy. Now, things have changed.
So has life of Ahmad. He is a crestfallen and dispirited man whose daily income has nosedived.
The only reason behind the change is depletion of fish production in the Wular.
“I live in a hand to mouth condition,” says Ahmad with a sunken face. “I sometimes return home empty handed”,
he adds.
| Wular is considered to be one of the main sources of livelihood for the people of Tarzoo, Haritar, Shahgund, Boon and many other villages situated between Sopore and Bandipora. | |
| Fishing, water chestnut and fodder are some of the important occupations practised by them. |
Since the fish turnout has gone down considerably, many forsake fishing and are looking for other ways to supplement the family income.
“Now, the story is entirely different. Depletion of fish in the Wular is forcing us to look for other alternatives,”
whines Ahmad, while siting in his boat.
Mehraj din Kalae pointing towards the newly constructed embankment at the fringes of Wular.
Wular Lake is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia
Revealing the most probable reasons for the depletion of the fish production, another fisherman, Mehraj-ud-din says that the bleaching powder used by illegal anglers to catch huge quantity of fish and unwanted grass sprouted in the lake are the possible reasons behind decreased production of fishes.
“Wular no longer produces what it was known for. The bleaching powder not only snuffs out the big fish but it has pushed to extinction some local fish species as well. Moreover, the unwanted grass growing in the Lake further made things messy for some of the species of fish to survive,”
he said.
According to a local, even though considered to be a fresh water lake in Asia, Wular bund constructed around the lake has made the water stagnant which in turn wiped out the fresh local species of fish from the lake and also reduced the quantity of Punjabi fish in the lake.
“Construction of bund ringed around the Wular was the final nail in the coffin. It did no good to the lake. It made the water stagnant which adversely affected the fresh Kashmiri fish and it also resulted in the growing of grass in the lake which is harmful for fish production.
says Nadeem, a local.
Tributary which flows from Gulmarg and enters into Wular
Another local associated with the profession, Yawar Hassan accuses the officials of having been hand in glove with the offenders who use bleaching powder.
“They (Offenders) grease their (Officials) palms to keep them silent and go on catching the huge cache of fish while severely affecting the small species,” he says.
After repeated attempts officials were not available for comments.
The Kashmir Blog 