As thousands of people throng Srinagar every summer to witness the vastness and crystal waters of Dal, encroachment in and around the lake keeps the warning bells ringing for those earning their livelihood from it.
It is the second largest lake in the state
Having been into tourism for more than four decades, president of Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association, Hamid Wangnoo reminisces Dal’s immensity in the past which stands in stark contrast with its shrinking boundaries today.
“In our childhood, we remember how Dal’s seemingly endless peripheries were complemented by its pristine waters, but today it is being shrunk and encroached upon without being shown any concern”,
says Wangnoo.
According to a report published by Directorate of Remote Sensing, the Dal lake has shrunken by 36 per cent in last 37 years.
Bashir Ahmad, a Dal dweller who ekes out his living by ferrying the tourists from one part of the lake to other, concurs with the report.
“Yes, I think the report is just the tip of an ice berg because there is much more to it,”
asserts lanky Bashir in foreign accented English.
| But the encroachment in and around the catchment area, shrinking size and pollution is severely affecting Dal at large. | |
| In September last year, Jammu & Kashmir High Court also observed that authorities within the state have proved helpless in controlling encroachment of Dal. | |
| It’s important to mention that Dal is one of the major attractions in the valley for tourists across the globe. |
A resident of Dalgate Nazir, who strolls on the bund of Dal in the evening, fumes over the encroachment.
“Whenever I pass by those points where they (Dal dwellers) have pushed their boundaries and encroached upon, I see them with anger”,
says Nazir
Even though LAWDA is there to check this menace, but it seems they are hand in glove with the officials and jointly they all are hell-bent to destroy this lake,
he further added.
New houses coming up at the fringes of Dal
In his famous book “The Valley of Kashmir”, Sir Walter Lawrence notes that Dal lake was spread over an area of 25.86 square kilometres of which 18.21 square kilometres was water surface while as 7.65 square kilometres comprised of landmass habitation and vegetation.
These facts when seen in current context, it could be well asserted that Dal is dying a slow death each passing day.
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According to a group of locals, even though it has been ten years that LAWDA had procured machines from United States, Switzerland and Finland to clean the Dal lake, yet the burgeoning population around the lake is making matters worse.
The incessantly increasing amount of waste finding its way into Dal has rendered the machinery insufficient to cover the entire area.
Apart from the encroachment, their waste material adding fuel to the fire has turned a major portion of the lake into a rice field.
“We must immediately act upon the issue. If we fail to do so, we are really going to lose Dal forever.”
said a group of locals.
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