Close to the city of Srinagar and on Srinagar – Narbal stretch of the National Highway, we find the ancient Hokersar wetland which originally was of around 16 square kilometres of area. It was a reputed bird sanctuary and for ages birds of various species coming as far away as Siberia spent winter months here in more moderate climate in comparison to Siberia with minus temperature. For a long time, this wetland was the source of supply of fowls to the city population and Narbal was a market for the sale of the same. Times have changed and Hokersar has now become a source of threat to the city. The reason is that the flood channel that disgorges in the wetlands has no outlet in case the wetlands are inundated as happened during September floods of Srinagar. The flood channel brings enormous silt and all of it is deposited in the Wetland so much so that according to a reliable source now at least four meter high layers of silt have accumulated in the Wetland. In the first place it has banished the birds from nesting in it and secondly since there is no outlet, the flood waters retract and this was the mean cause of inundation of low lying areas of Srinagar city during September floods.
What the Government should immediately do is to open an outlet channel for the water accumulated in the Wetland so that in case of floods, there is no backtrack of the water and the city is not threatened. This cannot wait even for a day because nobody knows when more rains would come and rivers are in flood. Alongside that, it is also important that the pristine purity of the Wetland is preserved and the birds return to it as usual. It has also been reported that a good portion of the Wetlands has been grabbed by land grabbers and instead of 16 sq km, the area has now been reduced to just 4 sq km. Revenue Department should be asked to present a status paper on the present status of the Wetland and if there are any illegal occupations, these must be got cleared at once.
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