Wular back in the pink as Lotus blooms this year
By: Kanchan Basu
Bandipora: The sight of dew droplets dripping down large lotus leaves in the morning enhances the bewitching charm of the Wular lake in the Kashmir Valley these days. Waxy green leaves and pink lotuses now embellish the large surface of the freshwater lake, surrounded by mountains, after a gap of three decades.
“It is the Almighty’s miracle that lotuses are a reality on the lake again. The lake had turned barren more than three decades ago for our own sins. For local farmers, it means more money and happier times ahead this year,” says Faizan Hussain, a local fisherman.
Over the years, farming practices and rising population had increased nutrient pollution load and silting into the lake waters, which saw an extraordinary increase in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels.
Lotus, being a deep lake plant, only blooms in water with low phosphorus. Also, with large amounts of silt added to the lakebed, which acts as an absorption basin for floodwaters, the lotus plants could not survive.
“Lotus blooming [at present] is the result of ongoing de-siltation carried out after the 2014 floods in Kashmir,” says Mahmood Shah, a teacher.
The lake, once considered among Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, tells a sad story of ecological degradation. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department, the area of the lake was 217.8 sq.km. in 1911 and included 58 sq.km. of associated marshes. However, it was reduced to an alarming 86.71 sq.km. by 2007.
The main cause of this shrinkage was conversion into agricultural land, thus reducing the lake area by 28% and its fauna by 17%, an official survey suggests.
In 1992, lotuses in the Wular stopped blooming after floods in the Jhelum river damaged the ecosystem.
At present, the lake is surrounded by 31 villages and home to over 12,000 households. The Wular Lake is also home to folklore, with mythology and legends woven around gods and kings of the past.
The local communities are overjoyed by the pink blooms at present. Lotuses act as a barometer of the ecological health of the lake. The lotus stems are collected through an arduous exercise as they are considered a delicacy.
Traditionally cooked with freshwater fish, the stems are a must-have item at main functions and get-together events in Kashmir.
