Latief Hussain of Zadibal has spent most of his childhood in the waters of Khushal Sar swimming and helping his elders shifting Nadru (lotus root) harvests from the erstwhile thriving wetland. But today, when I look at it, I feel so saddened by its poignant deterioration,Hussain, who is 42-years-old now, said. The wetland in the old Srinagar city, which once connected Dal Lake and Anchar Lake and lent a serene look to the city besides hosting biodiversity and giving livelihood to hundreds of families, is now at the brink of total deterioration because of massive land encroachments and pollution.
We have learnt swimming in Khushal Sar only. It used to have clean water which we would enjoy swimming in, Hussain said.
Touheed Ali, who is a few years younger to Hussain, still recalls the spots where he has taken maximum baths. It is just some 15 years back when I was a teenager and used to bathe in Khushal Sar, he said. And today; it is not Khushal Sar. It is actually a Badhal Sar now, Ali emphasized.
What according to the people living in the vicinity of the lake has destroyed Khushal Sar, is massive encroachment on its land and a tide of pollutants it has been fed with over the past several years.
The construction of Ali Jan Road and stopping the water which was coming into Khushal Sar through Nallah Amir Khan is the root-cause of the deterioration of Khushal Sar, said 49-year-old Ghulam Nabi Dar of Zadibal who has done an engineering course, but has never sought a government job like his father, Ghulam Hussain, as we had a lot of land where we used to grow Nadru.
According to Dar, no one in their area thought seeking a government job made sense when the area, thanks to Khushal Sar, offered a much better livelihood option in the form of Nadru business with all the independence at their disposal.
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”30574″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”}]]
The locals in the area said that over the past many years now, they have been constantly hearing trucks buzzing in their vicinity during night as they fill up parts of wetland with soil. All those houses which you see alongside the Ali Jan Road, have come up after the road was constructed. It facilitated the filling up of the wetland. On the other hand, stopping the supply of water to Khushal Sar from Nallah Amir Khan turned a lot of area of the wetland dry and thus made it prone to encroachment, Dar said.
According to Dar and other people living near the wetland, over 4000 residential houses and commercial infrastructure has been erected within the wetland area and on its banks in just the past five-six years.
Despite all this happening around us; no one blows the whistle. Everybody knows that nothing will happen. It is actually the political parties which are responsible for all this mess. They support their workers who are either part of land mafia themselves or are in league with them. With such things happening around, individual families, who encroach upon the wetland, also get scot-free, the locals said.
They said that all the sewage of the drains of old Srinagar city finds its way into Khushal Sar which has caused heavy pollution in the wetland. Drains of more than 50 percent area of the city flow into Khushal Sar. Even the sewage of our own toilets goes into Khushal Sar, the residents of Zadibal and other areas in the vicinity of Khushal Sar said.
Chief Minister: Your attention, please!
On October 5, 2017, chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, while terming the Srinagar city as the pride of Jammu and Kashmir, had observed that environmental awareness, protection of water bodies and solid waste management had to be addressed immediately for a proper and planned growth of the city.
The chief minister had directed the divisional commissioner, Kashmir to start the process of demarcating boundaries of important water bodies of the city like Gile Sar, Khushal Sar, Brar i Nambal and others at the earliest.
She asked the Urban Development Secretary to take restoration of these water bodies on priority which provide an aesthetic cushion to city life. She expressed dismay over the condition of Dal lake and other water bodies and said that given the condition of the lake, she has decided to take a review of its cleaning and de weeding every 10 days, read a press release from the governments information department in October last year.
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”30575″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”}]]
But, nothing seems to have been done so far. According to experts, the wetland can still be restored to a greater extent if immediate measures are taken for its revival. Presently, it neither comes under Wildlife Department (which manages Kashmirs wetlands) nor Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), one of the reasons why the Khushal Sar has suffered to such an extent.
Better late than never! Experts say that if measures for its revival are taken even at this stage, Khushal Sar can still be saved.
Yes, it can still be revived if a comprehensive revival plan is made for its revival. I think if the government decides to hire experienced hydrologists, limnologists, biodiversity specialists and experts in socio-economics for devising a comprehensive plan for the revival of the lake, it can still be saved, Rashid Nakash, Regional Wildlife Warden Kashmir and an expert of Wetland Management observed.
All the aspects of the wetland have to be studied. For example, how much water it used to receive when it was in a good condition and how much it is receiving now. The data of about 100 years regarding all the aspects have to be studied by experts for preparing its revival plan, he added.
Samiullah Bhat of Kashmir Universitys Department of Environmental Sciences said that nothing is impossible if the government shows political will and spares the required resoucres for the revival of damaged wetlands of the state. The government needs to show that political will. And should also be ready to spend money for restoring them. Khushal Sar needs immediate attention, Bhat said. The government needs to do so sooner rather than later considering the repeated directions from the high court, Supreme Court and the responsibility which government of India needs to fulfill under the Ramsar Convention.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
ACT NOW |
MONTHLY | Rs 100 | |
YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |