Bandipora: The second-largest freshwater lake in Asia, located in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, is being restored to its former glory thanks to the Wular Conservation and Management Authority, but villagers who live nearby are feeling left out because they aren’t participating in the preservation projects.
“I am among the only three graduates in our village,” said Ishfaq Ahmad, a young graduate from Lankreshipora hamlet, which is situated on the banks of the Wular Lake, “and we have been ignored from any of the conservation efforts the government is doing inside the Wular Lake.”
The bulk of the people are fisherman who make a living by catching fish and collecting water chestnuts from the lake.
Ishfaq laments the fact that multibillion-dollar attempts to preserve the lake did not benefit the community since no local labour or specialists were engaged.
According to official estimates, around thirty villages near Wular Lake rely directly or indirectly on the lake’s bounty.
“The authorities have spent over Rs 300 crore so far to restore the lake, but our community’s youth, whether educated or uneducated, are not involved.” If the authorities had been modest enough to include us in these efforts, it would have certainly aided in the creation of job prospects, but the presence of just foreigners is demotivating,” he remarked. “This is our lake, our source of income.” I don’t believe anybody else could conceive of a better method to devote ourselves totally to helping restore its pure grandeur than we could.”
Even while the lake’s repaired parts have attracted rare migrating species, some fishermen complain that the dredging has depleted its resources. “Chestnuts have taken a hit, and fish are also in short supply.” It has had a significant impact on our livelihood since several sections of chestnut trees have been uprooted. Furthermore, the paddy fields around Banyari village have been ineffective owing to the disposal of debris from the dredging procedure,” stated Muhammad Altaf Dar of adjoining Saderkoot Payeen village.
“The conservation projects have been of no benefit to us,” said another elderly villager, “our plea to authorities is to take us along in forthcoming projects to have some economic leverage as we are an underprivileged community.”
The WUCMA, which was established in 2012, took a significant step forward in 2022 when it dredged 4.35 square kilometres of dangerously silted Lake area under the Wular action plan to enhance its water-holding capacity.
The news comes after Reach Dredging Limited was awarded a Rs 200 crore project in 2020. The construction began on May 7, that year. Rashmi Group, a dredging and marine solutions firm headquartered in Kolkata, owns the company.
Previously, the government delineated and geotagged 130 square km of the real lake area. Furthermore, the authorities have been able to remove 8 square kilometres of forest land inside Wular Lake, which is primarily covered by willows, in a phased way by felling the willows.
The government are building a 2.5-kilometer Wular Walkway through the rehabilitated region, including Wular Lake overlooks and bird towers, to enhance ecotourism.
Mudasir Mahmood, project coordinator at Wular Conservation Authority, said that they have launched many efforts to promote ecotourism, which would assist provide job prospects for people.
He said that their efforts were assisting in attracting tourist traffic, and that additional conservation authority activities included the continuing building of the Wular Walkway and the erection of observation towers for bird enthusiasts. Aside from that, the authorities was contemplating revamping the lakefront to include tourist rest areas, parks, and food booths.
