Why Asia’s Largest Fresh Water Lake Is Dying A Slow Death

By Sameer Yasir (Guest Writer)

ENVIRONMENT CONCERN On a chilly Sunday evening, 35-year-old Tanveer Ahmad Dar, a resident of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, watched a fisherman from the balcony of his house rowing a boat on the waters of Wullar, Asia’s second largest freshwater lake, as the sun began its descent behind the tall mountains. As the boat rowed ahead towards the left side of the lake and Dar’s eyes followed its path, piles of garbage lying on the shores blocked his view.
For the last three years, dozens of garbage dumping sites and innumerable number of illegal fresh constructions have cropped up on the shores of the lake that faces Dar’s house. “It makes you angry. Wullar has become a garbage-dumping site for people and authorities. If that was not enough the illegal construction is another problem despite government of Kashmir chopping down a vast shoreline of willow trees last year to restore the water level,” says Dar, who has graduated in environmental science. 

Early last year, in January, the officials of Jammu and Kashmir government  ordered chopping down the vast shoreline of willow trees to restore the water levels of the lake. Nearly two million willow trees were planted around the lake to suck up water and trap slit. They were planted for almost hundred years by the different government departments to provide firewood to the residents living near the lake. 

Wullar Lake is fed by the Jhelum River, which originates in south Kashmir’s Verinag district. It follows a sinuous path from Anantnag in south Kashmir to summer capital Srinagar before it feeds Wullar in north Kashmir. The river irrigates different towns all across Kashmir before it crosses the Line of Control and enters Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Wullar, according to Dar, was already shrinking due to illegal encroachments. Now, it is shrinking further, with several municipal bodies in surrounding areas dumping tons of garbage into it daily.

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah had launched an ambitious project ‘Comprehensive Management Action Plan for preservation and conservation of Wullar Lake’ in 2011 to save the largest water body of Jammu and Kashmir spread over an area of more than 100 sq km. The government was to spend Rs 114 crore on the lake’s conservation. 

The lake provides livelihood to 40,000 fishermen, who are severely affected by the dumping of garbage that has led to a decline in water chestnut and fish. Environmental experts say they have noticed a decrease in the number of migratory birds visiting the lake too. That used to be one of the main attractions of the lake. “The dumping of waste has badly upset the ecological balance of the lake. The illegal construction has already taken a toll on the lake,” says Mohmmad Amin, a local resident. 

Officials of the Municipal Corporation of  Bandipora admit off the record that they “used to sometimes throw garbage into the lake but have stopped from some time." A claim categorically denied by the residents. The Peoples Democratic Party leader and MLA of Bandipora, Nizamudin Bhat, says even the government has failed to utilize the funds for the conservation of Wullar Lake.

“Wullar Management Conservation Authority has miserably failed to utilize project funds for the conservation Wullar Lake, the funds which were spared for the improvement of catchment areas have been wasted due to the lack of proper planning and surveillance.” A study done by Delhi-based Wetland International South Asia (WISA) includes a comprehensive management action plan report that says the lake area has shrunk by 45 percent, from 157 square kilometres to 86 square kilometres between 1911 and 2007. 

“Its water holding capacity has fallen by one fifth in the last 30 years, owing to siltation, at an alarming rate of 2,470 acre-feet annually.” Almost a third of the population living along the lake are either Below Poverty line or belong to backward category. Most of them make their living by extracting chestnuts or fishing in the lake. The lake acts as a habitat to a number of species of fish and other aquatic animals, water chestnut and vegetables. 

A vast range of migratory and resident birds have made Wullar their home. But with the levels of pollution rising in the lake, not only have the migratory birds cut down their visits, it has also affected the production of vegetables and the quality of fish produced by the lake. 

Sitting on the balcony of his house, Dar says the day is not far when Wullar would be left without its treasures. “Today, piles of garbage block the view of lake. The day is not far when the entire lake will disappear,” he says.