Fishing and other rural communities that have traditionally depended on Wular Lake are now struggling to earn a living from it, as shrinkage, siltation and ecological degradation take a toll on Kashmir’s largest flood basin. Wular, which was designated as a wetland of international importance under Ramsar Convention in 1990, is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia and the largest flood basin of Kashmir. When 67-year-old Mohammad Subhan Dar fished in Wular Lake in his youth, fish were abundant in the expansive lake tucked in the lap of lush green mountains in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The fish, Dar and other villagers said, have almost vanished now. As compared to the past, fish turnout in Wular has gone down considerably, Dar told VillageSquare.in. Earlier, a fisherman could catch up to 15kg of fish in a single day. These days if a person catches even five kg in a day, we call him the king of Wular, said Dar.
Zona Begam of Asham village at Jhelum’s bank is educating her three daughters. “Until last year, my husband had a steady income as he was serving as a forest guard. Now he has retired and draws a meagre pension. He goes for fishing, but returns with just one kg at times,” Begam said. “Though we manage with what we get, we fear that the fish might vanish altogether.”
Elderly people like Nabi and Subhan Dar of Saderkote recall their childhood days when Wular’s water was pure and pristine. “We used to drink taking the water directly from the lake. Now we hesitate even to bathe in it because of the heavy pollution,” Dar told VillageSquare.in.
Sources:
Your Story, Sept 27, 2017
https://yourstory.com/2017/09/wular-lake-kashmir/
Scroll In, Sept 13, 2017
https://scroll.in/article/850294/as-pollution-encroachment-hurt-jammu-a…
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