Dr. Nater Singh
The ecosystems of wetlands of Kashmir valley are under tremendous anthropomorphic pressure since more than four decades. The loss of wet lands of Kashmir valley aggravated the present situation of flood fury. The damage caused to life and property could have been minimized if the water bodies like Wullar, Anchar, Dal , Nagin , Mansabal and other wetlands had been preserved. All these wetlands act as a sponge that retain excess waters. Wullar, Dal, Anchar, Nagin, Manasbal and other small lakes are classical example of that. During the British and Maharaja period Wuller and other lakes acted as a buffer for the flood in which water could be absorbed. A century ago, Wuller extended up to almost 190 sq kms and would spread to over 270 sq km during floods. Human encroachments into the lake are the chief reason for the lake shrinking. In the last 30 years, nearly 50 percent of the wetlands in the Kashmir valley have been encroached upon severely. The Wullar wet land area has reduced from 157.74 sq.km to 58.71 sq.km from 1911 to 2010. Some of the reclaimed marshland measuring about 25 sq. km have been transformed into willow plantation by the state. A survey conducted in 2006 under court orders revealed that 60,000 kanals area in the lake have been encroached mainly by raising plantation under social forestry programmes of forest department. Wullar has lost its capacity to regulate water flows leading to increased floods in valley. In addition the sewage from Srinagar and other towns upstream passing into river Jhelum that flows through Wullar has degraded the water quality of the lake. Due to disturbance in the ecosystem of Wullar lake the flood phenomena in the Kashmir valley has aggravated. Our well known historian Kallhana has also revealed the relationship of floods and wet lands of Kashmir valley in “Rajathrangani”.
Wullar Lake
The major ailment of the Wullar wet land is siltation. Large quantities of silt are regularly deposited by the Jhelum, Madhumati, Erin, Phore and other streams entering the lake. The rate of siltation has been estimated a 3.33.acre per ft. per year. Siltation has already claimed about 90 percent of it and the remaining 10 percent will disappear unless corrective measures are taken. Deforestation in the catchment areas of Jhelum and its tributaries has increased the siltation rate many time higher than the calculated rates, with the result Wullar has lost its capacity to store water leading to floods in the valley. The entry of raw sewage and plant nutrients are continuously adding to serious weed infestation.
Anchar Lake
Anchar lake is single basined and is connected on the eastern side with Dal lake through an inflow channel nallah Amir Khan via Gilsr and Khushalsar. A network of channels of Sindh enters the lake on its western shore forming delta. The lake is also fed by springs with in basin and along the periphery . Further , a number of channels from agricultural fields, effluents from the settlements and surface drains from catchment area flow directly in to it.
In recent years significant encroachment have taken within the lake. According to Lawrance the area of the lake in 1893-94 was 19.54sq.km, and has now been reduced hardly to 6.8 sq.km of which 3.6 sq.km are marsh. Unabated encroachments still continue at alarming rate. The main disturbance in the lake is from the heavy silt flowing from Sind nallah. The siltation process has greatly affected the lake ecology and storage capacity of the lake. The entry of raw sewage from the immediate catchment area sewages from the adjoining areas amount to a daily load of 2.0 tones of nitrogen and 1.7 tones of phosphorus resulting serious weed infestation and water quality deterioration.
Dal Lake
Dal lake is located within catchment area covering 316 sq km (122 sq miles ) in the Zabarwan mountain valley in the foot hill of Himalayan range, which surrounds it on three sides. The average elevation of the Lake is 1583 metres ( 5194 ft ). Dal lake has seen numerous reclamation all along its periphery in marshy areas which has drastically reduced the lake area to just about 1200 hectares almost half of its earlier spread. The depth of the water varies from 6 mts (20 ft) at its deepest at Nagin lake to 2.5 metres ( 8.2 ft), the shallowest at Gagribal. The length of the lake is 7.44 km ( 4.62miles) with a width of 3.5 km (2.2 miles) The lake has a shore length of 15.5 kms (9.5 miles). Irreversible changes through urban expansion and road building have been made along the shore line to accommodate the tourist growth. Two Islands build in the basin have further restricted the flow of the lake and as a result marshy lands have emerged on the peripheral zones, notably in the foothill area of Shankaracharya and Zaharbwan hills. These marshy lands have since been reclaimed and converted into large residential complexes and chain of Hotels.
Dal lake covers an area of 18 sq kms (6.9 sq miles ) and is a part of natural wetland which covers 21.1 sq kms (8.1 sq miles ) including its floating gardens. The latest data reveals that the lake, has shrunk from 75 sq km to mere 11.56 sq km . There are more than 350 floating gardens which are known as “Rad” in kashmiri. The wetland is divided by causeways in to four basins. Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal (although Nagin is considered an independent lake ) Lokut Dal and Bod Dal each have an Island in the centre is known as Rup lank ( or Char Chinari ) and Sona lank respectively.
The Dachigam Telbal nallh system is conjectured to follow two major lineaments. Discontinuity surfaces represent the angular and parallel drainage pattern. The water table cuts the hill slopes, which is evidenced by the occurrence of numerous springs in the valley. Seismic activities is recorded under Zone V of the seismic zoning map of India, the most severe where frequent damaging earthquakes of intensity IX could be expected. Kashmir valley has already experienced an earthquake of the 7.6 on Richter’s scale in 2005. (Muzzaferabad earthquake). But there is no existence of disaster management provision in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Hydrological parameters reveals that the shallow, , open- drainage of Dal lake is fed by Dachigam- Telbal nallah (with perennial flow ) Dara nallah and many other streams. The lake is classified as “warm monomictic ” under the sub-tropical lake category. The complex land use pattern of the valley is reflected in urbanized Srinagar in its north with rice fields, orchards and garden in the lower slopes, and barren hills beyond steep sloping hills. The flat topography also has an impact on drainage conditions. It receives an average annual rain fall of 655 millimetres ( 25.8 inches) in catchment area. The average annual flow, according to discharge measurements has been estimateded 291.9 million cubic metres with Telbal nallah accounting for 80% of the total and 20 % contributed by other sources. There are two outlets from the lake, namely the Dalgate and Amir Khan Nallah that connects the lakes of Nagin and Anchar. Dalgate is controlled by weir and lock system. The out flow from these two outlets has been estimated as 275.6 MCM. Further, the silt load has been estimated at 80,000 tonnes per year with 70 % contributed from the Telbal nallah, with 36,000 tonnes recorded as settling in the lake.
The major environmental problem facing the lake is eutrophication, which requires immediate remedial measures to combat it. Alarmingly, the size of the lake has shrunk from its original area of 22 sq km ( 8.5 miles) to present are of 18 sq km ( 6.9 sq miles) and there is alarming rate of sediment deposition due to deforestation in the catchment area. The water quality has also deteriorated due to intense pollution caused by untreated sewage and solid waste that is fed into lake from peripheral areas and from the settlements and house boat. Encroachments of water channels and consequent clogging has diminished the circulation and in flow into lake , so with the building up of phosphates and nitrogen, this has led to extensive weed growth and consequences negative effect on the biodiversity of the lake.
Manasbal Lake
Manasbal lake is located in the Jhelum valley, north of Srinager city in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is deepest lake ( at 13 metres or 43 ft ) in Kashmir valley. The lake is surrounded by the Baladar mountains on the east, by an elevated plateau known as Karewa comprising lacustrine , fluviatile and loessic deposits on the north and bounded by the Ahtung hills in the south.
The drainage basin for the lake, covering an area of 33 sq kms (13 sq miles) has no major inlet channels and is thus fed mainly by precipitation and springs ( more than 1200 springs) Lake water outflows to the Jhelum river through a regulated out flow channel. World Wide Funds (WWF) conducted an extensive survey of the lake in 1997 attributed the reasons for the deterioration of the lake, particularly on its banks, gradually turning it in to a stinking marsh, due to the following reasons.
*Large scale illegal encroachment on the periphery on Ganderbal and Qazibagh sides in the form of 1000 of trees, vegitable gardens, toilets, residential structures,garbages dumping sites.
*Siltation due to noxious run off from adjoining fields, stone quarries and lime kilns.
*The flow of sewage and use of fertilizers in the agricultural fields in its adjoining villages.
*Eighty percent of the lake was seen under the thick blanket of weed.
All rivers like Vishoka, Rambh, Ara, Romish, Dud Ganga,Lidder,Aral,Stunt kol, Aran, Pohra and many other tributaries of the Jhelum are depositing huge amount of siltation in the lakes of the valley with the results shrinkage of wetlands storage capacity . The Jhelum has changed its course and caused lateral erosion. All the newly developed colonies are located on the old channel ,flood plains, meander core and terraces of the Jhelum and dry beds of the lakes. When you will not respect the River and Lakes you have face such disasters.
(The author is a principal)
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