Sopore: Rampant pollution and encroachment in Asia’s largest freshwater lake is taking a heavy toll on the production of Nadru (Lotus Stem) as its production has declined drastically.
“Rampant encroachments along the banks of Wular Lake have also led to the decline of Nadru production. The encroachments have gone unchecked and the administration has failed to take any action against the violators,” the locals said.
They said that the Lake, which is the livelihood source of thousands of fishermen of Bandipora and Sopore, would provide 30 per cent Nadru yield in the Kashmir valley, however, after the devastating floods of 2014, the production declined drastically.
“The production further declined over the past two years due to rampant pollution, degrading water quality and encroachments in the Lake,” said Ghulam Hassan, a fisherman from Zurimanz village.
He said that Nadru is facing the threat of disappearance from the lake due to the increasing pollution and the government has failed to restore the lake to its original glory.
Hassan claimed that they used to extract hundreds of kilograms of Nadru from the lake before the devastating floods of 2014 and over the past few years, the production has declined further due to rampant pollution.
Meanwhile, Wular Conservation Management Authority (WUCMA) officials told news agency KNO, the work to restore the lake and weed out the pollutants, is going on.
“The production of Nadru has declined drastically after September 2014 floods which caused pollution in the lake and the water quality also degraded. We are planning to revive the production of Nadru by sowing seeds along the banks of Wular Lake in Bandipora and Sopore as well,” they said.
The officials further said that they work to restore the glory of Wular Lake under the previously approved project is going on from Saderkote and Banyari villages of Bandipora.
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