SRINAGAR LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCY: DAL LAKE LOSING ITS PRISTINE GLORY

By Mudassir Kuloo 

Srinagar: Sitting near a shop in the interior of Dal Lake, Abdul Rehman, 65 is old enough to remember a time when the lake’s water was clean enough to drink. Today, he gazes sadly at the highly degraded state of the lake’s waters. “Even after filtering multiple times, this water will not be fit to drink,” he says. He makes it a point to ask every tourist in a Shikara who glides by his shop not to throw waste overboard. “This city’s tourism economy is heavily dependent on the lake,” said Rehman. “But we keep blaming each other without doing anything for its preservation”.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is currently represented by Farooq Abdullah, head of the National Conference, which has ruled the state for many years in the past.

Over the years, both state and central government leaders have made umpteen promises and allocated hundreds of crores to clean up the lake. Now, more empty promises will be made as the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign gains momentum.

National Conference, General Secretary, Ali Mohammad Sagar, who has represented Srinagar’s Khanyar constituency several times, claimed, “All the preservation measures for Dal Lake have been taking during our tenure. Mehbooba Mufti-led government completely ignored the Srinagar.”

Sagar also admitted despite initiated various cleanup efforts; there has been less change on the ground. “We need to rehabilitate people from there but government also has to provide them livelihood. We need to set up new sewage treatment plants,” he added.  

While Peoples Democratic Party, chief spokesperson Rafi Ahmad Mir blamed the NC for ignoring the lake. “Most NC legislators have represented Srinagar assembly constituencies in past. They did nothing for its preservation. It was during Mehbooba Mufti-led government that Centre sanctioned further funds for its preservation but due to fall of our government we could not continue for its preservation,” he added. 

But take a Shikara ride and one will only see the extent of the lake’s degradation.

Research by Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the Earth Sciences Department at Kashmir University in 2016, found that 32 per cent of lake faced severe degradation, 48 per cent medium degradation with just 20 of the lake’s waters being relatively clean.

Different studies have pointed out that the lake faces multiple pressures from unplanned urbanization, high population growth, and nutrient load in the river due to intensive agriculture which act as fertilisers for weed growth.

The Dal Lake is also home to over 50,000 people who live on the lake, comprising houseboat owners, vegetable growers, and fisherman. These people are mostly making living on tourism, agriculture, and fishing.

People like Bashir Ahmad, 45, who lives on the lake and grows vegetables (turnip, radish, carrot, in winters and cucumber and gourd during summers) said the government cleans a portion of Dal Lake around the Shar-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) where national and international conferences are held.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shown only the small clean portion when he visited the lake. De-weeding is being done around the SKICC by machines and manually. But the interior of the lake is turning into a swamp,” he said. 

He explained various reasons over the delay in rehabilitation process of inhabitants. “Some politicians are dependent for votes upon a section of people mostly belong to Muslim minority community. They put hurdles in expedite the rehabilitation process. People want to be  rehabilitated only when government provide them some job avenues there,” he added. 

Government in 2007 started a project costing Rs 416 crore for depopulating the lake and rehabilitation of these families at a site called Rakh-I-Arth Bemina on the outskirts of Srinagar, which was to be developed by providing infrastructure like roads, water supply, electricity, drainage, sewerage and other community facilities and housing for the displaced persons. The project was to be completed within three years, at a cost of Rs 416.72 crore. By 2018, the authority had been able to allot only 2,600 of the proposed 10,500 plots. These exclude fishermen families, who have been rehabilitated at Habak.

Most of them do laboring work, driving tourist cars, while some have sold the land there and live around the Dal Lake as they are associated with tourism.  

While visiting Rakh -I-Arth, most people said government has failed to provide them basic facilities. “There are no facilities available here. There is no drainage system and poor sanitation.  Who will like to live here?” asked Shabir Ahmad, a Dal dweller shifted to the Rakhi Arth colony Bemina on Srinagar outskirts and presently doing laboring work.  

He said his cousins have refused to relocate and is among the hundreds of manual labourers hired by the state to clean the Dal. “At least those who live in Dal have employment opportunities. There is tourism sector and can earn their livelihood,” he added.

Nashir Geelani, a Srinagar resident, emphasized the impact on the state’s economy due to the lake’s deterioration. “The production of fish and vegetables have decreased, affecting the livelihood of many people,” he pointed out. “Now even tourists don’t stay for more than a day on the lake due to increasing pollution.”

Even growth of lotus stem (called Nadru in Kashmiri), used in their local cuisine and fish has been adversely affected.  

Bashir Ahmad Dar, 55, a fisherman catch one-kg of fish daily these days. “During summers, I catch around 3 kg. Fifteen years before, I would catch around 10 kg of fish daily. We hardly find fish in the lake,” he said, whose two sons do laboring and mason work. “Why would they take up this profession when it has no benefit? My wife sells fish in Ganderbal exported from outside Kashmir,” he shares.

The government has rehabilitated fishermen to Habak area of Srinagar. But Dar says they want to come back and live on or along the lake. “We were rehabilitated 10 years back on the promise of providing all facilities. But there are no facilities and our colony always remain water logged,” he added.

Experts say one of the main reasons for the lake’s deterioration, is the dumping of huge amounts of untreated waste into it. “At least 44.2 million litres of sewage goes into Dal Lake every day,” said Tariq Ahmad Patloo, a houseboat owner. “Around 5 million litres is generated from the inhabitants of the lake while only 0.8 percent sewage is generated from houseboats. Why are only we (houseboat owners) blamed for the deterioration?”

As per a report of the state’s Pollution Control Board, Srinagar generates 201 million litres of sewage daily, but has the capacity to treat only 53.8 million litres. “Disposal of untreated sewage into Dal Lake and Jhelum river is one of the main reasons for degradation of the quality of water,” the report added.

The government has also failed to upgrade the technology of the three Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) around the Dal Lake as recommended by scientists from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and promised by the government in 2014. “We use old technology in STPs, which does not treat the sewage properly,” admitted an official of the Lakes and Water Ways Development Authority.

MONEY SPENT AND LAKE CLEARNING PROGRAMMES ANNOUNCED

Numerous high sounding lake cleaning and preservation projects have been launched over the past 16 years, and over Rs 800 of crores spent on these, with no visible signs on the ground of effective implementation.

For instance, a ‘National Lake Conservation Programme’ was launched in 2005 costing Rs 298.76 crore. The 'Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme' (PMRP) of 2010, to acquire land and structures in the Dal and Nigeen lakes, cost Rs 356 crore.

Dr Abdul Majeed Kak, an environmentalist, said “the money released would have filled up springs of the lake. But on ground even the de-weeding was not being done scientifically”.

However, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan said that government is making all efforts for the preservation of the lake. “People from there are being rehabilitated and the cleaning process has been expedited,” he said. “There will be a visible change in the coming months. The High Court is also monitoring the work”.

But that is of little comfort to people like Biba, who sells fish in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and remembers a time when she and her fisherman husband would catch and sell fish worth Rs 1200 per day. “I now sell two kgs of fish and earn less than Rs 400 per day,” she said. Her husband, who used to go out every evening to catch fish to sell the next day, has now decided to give up fishing and instead start his own mini-bus service.  

Sequence of shots in video final 

First my promo

Then other promo video on bike’ (you can choose one as you like)

Fisherman Bashir Ahmad Dar speaking in Kashmir. Transcribed here follows

Bashir Ahmad Dar, 55, a fisherman catch one-kg of fish daily these days. “During summers, I catch around 3 kg. Fifteen years before, I would catch around 10 kg of fish daily. We hardly find fish in the lake,” he said, whose two sons do laboring and mason work. “Why would they take up this profession when it has no benefit? My wife sells fish in Ganderbal exported from outside Kashmir,” he shares.

The government has rehabilitated fishermen to Habak area of Srinagar. But Dar says they want to come back and live on the lake. “We were rehabilitated 10 years back on the promise of providing all facilities. But there are no facilities and our colony always remain water logged,” he added.

Tariq Ahmad (Houseboat owner)

Ghulam Ahmad, (shikara owner and resident of Dal)

Nashir Geelani Srinagar resident

Zahoor Ahmad (resident of Dal)

Then shots of Dal Lake

Also there are five pictures of Dal Lake