Conserving water bodies
Water bodies have been of critical importance to any region, especially those which remain landlocked and have very few natural resources to fall back on.
Kashmir too happens to be such a place where the dependence of local population on its water bodies is huge and important equally. These water bodies are vital for the region’s ecology, economy, and culture.
The water sources like Jhelum and Dal Lake provide water for irrigation, drinking, and hydroelectric power, while as the wetlands and other lakes support unique flora and fauna. Tourism too is largely dependent on these water bodies as they are an added attraction to the beauty of the region.
Since many such water bodies exist in the capital city of Srinagar, their importance and preservation becomes all the more important.
It is in this backdrop that the government has initiated a large-scale conservation and restoration programme to revive Srinagar’s historic lakes, with projects worth hundreds of crores being executed across the Sher-e-Khas water bodies.
Restoration measures are being carried out in Dal, Nigeen, Anchar, Brari Nambal, Khushalsar, Gilsar and Echnambal lakes with water quality being monitored by the J&K Pollution Control Committee and conservation works are being implemented by the J&K Lake Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA).
As part of Dal Lake conservation, authorities have relocated about 3,108 families from inside the lake to rehabilitation colonies. Over the past three years, 6.5 sq km of weeds have been removed, the open water expanse increased to more than 20.3 sq km, 20 navigation channels (10 km) restored and nearly 2 lakh cubic metres of silt dredged, besides shoreline dredging from NPL Bund to Kral Sangri.
Pollution which is also taking a huge toll is also being checked as five Sewage Treatment Plants with a combined capacity of 36.73 MLD are operational around the Dal-Nigeen periphery, while a 30 MLD Guptganga STP costing Rs 306 crore is under construction. Sewerage networks have been connected to 573 houseboats in Dal Lake and 148 houseboats in Nigeen Lake, along with oxidation ponds and bio-digesters to treat inflows.
Importantly, the real-time monitoring through an Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring System has been installed at five STPs. Daily solid-waste collection from lake hamlets and houseboats and converting aquatic weed into compost in collaboration with NAFED is also being worked out making the effort to improve the quality of water noteworthy.
Since maintain the lakes needs development of catchment areas, the authorities need to improve the catchment areas which includes plantation of trees, fencing and anti-erosion check dams.
Besides, the demarcation of lake boundaries using GPS and satellite imagery, fencing of vulnerable areas, relocation of dwellers to other sites also need to be taken up on a war footing so that the conservation efforts become more meaningful.
