Though conservation of lakes and other water bodies in Jammu & Kashmir is the responsibility of J&K Lakes Waterways Development Authority (JKLDA) renamed J&K Lake Conservation and Management Authority (JKCMA) in November last year but unfortunately it has reduced it’s role in conservation of world famous Dal Lake to de-weeding going on at a very low intensity which is not sufficient enough for the preservation of this world famous water body. Though manual de-weeding at the Dal Lak is being carried out with the engagement and involvement of several other government departments but experiences of last several decades show that manual de-weeding even if carried out consistently for years together the way it is carried out now won’t clear this world famous water body from the weeds in months but it would take years for completing the process of de-weeding in and around Dal Lake. Irrefutable fact is that Government of erstwhile J&K State had few years back acquired costly machinery for quick de-weeding of the lakes, but the desired results were not achieved despite the fact that Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) was assigned the job of removing weeds in and around Dal Lake. While no mechanical procedure of de-weeding has reduced the increasing cover of weeds in and around Dal Lake the authorities are carrying out manual de-weeding operations only at selected places and consequently spots of bigger tourist attractions like Hazratbal, Nishat, Dalgate, Saida Kadal, Rainawari and its adjacent areas paint an ugly picture of this world famous lake due to presence of weeds. Instead of engaging other departments in the manual de-weeding at Dal Lake it would have been better for the Lake Conservation and Management Authority(LCMA) to create groups of volunteers for removal of weeds from all places in and around Dal Lake.
Not just de-weeding but solid waste management is equally a huge challenge for preservation of Dal Lake and as such a new strategy for preserving Dal Lake unless and until not focused equally on both de-weeding and as well as solid waste management the challenges coming in the way of conserving Dal Lake will never die.
While manual de-weeding in and around Dal Lake can be continued till the completion of the de-weeding of the lake, another pressing issue concerning the conservation of Dal Lak solid waste management demands immediate attention of the Lakes Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) as none else than Lt Governor Manoj Sinha himself has stressed for addressing the issue of solid waste management in an around Dal Lake very recently. It is also a fact that Dal Lake can’t be preserved without stopping the release of sewage waste of households and commercial establishments into transparent waters of Dal Lake. So not just de-weeding but solid waste management is equally a huge challenge for preservation of Dal Lake and as such a new strategy for preserving Dal Lake unless and until not focused equally on both de-weeding and as well as solid waste management the challenges coming in the way of conserving Dal Lake will never die.
