How to help restore The Dal Lake
Published on by Syed Ikram, Director at S A Power Utilities (P) Ltd in Non Profit
I would like to get support for conservation of World Famous Dal Lake.
Dal is a lake in Srinagar (Dal Lake is a misnomer as Dal in Kashmiri means lake), the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The urban lake, which is the second largest in the state, is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is named the "Jewel in the crown of Kashmir" or "Srinagar's Jewel".
The lake is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting.
Media
Taxonomy
- Water Harvesting
- Water Harvesting
- Ecosystem Management
- Lake Management
- Resource Conservation
- India
6 Answers
-
I suggest focusing on preventing pollution discharges directly into the lake. This can include adding planted easements near waterways entering the lake (this will also help reduce silt reaching the main lake). Encouraging proper fertilizer use in areas near the lake to prevent excess nutrients that cause eutrophication.
-
the technical aspect is easy. political will is the tricky part
-
Peter Styles The Dal Lake, nestled in the north-east part of Srinagar city (J]K Sates) and spread over 21.1 sq km, is at the heart of the region’s tourism industry and is linked to the livelihood of thousands. The lake has suffered extensively over the past few decades due to an increasing encroachment, human interference and pollution. I assume Syed Ikram is referring to the pollution problem of the lake here also its worth noticing that heavy siltation of about 80,000 tons annually lands in lake.
1 Comment
-
Syed, Encroachment and "interference" are planning matters for local government to control. What sort of "pollution" are you talking about and what is the extent? Are there discharges of industrial waste into the lake's catchment? Is the domestic waste waster (sewage) adequately treated? Is there an agency responsible for the water quality?
-
-
Syed, what kind of support are you looking for?
-
What's the problem?
-
If Dal means lake, what is the name of this lake, the original or local name ?
All references I have seen say Dal Lake and Nigeen Lake near by.
Is Nageen Lake called Nigeen Dal in Kashmiri ?
Even the J & K LWDA calls the lakes Dal and Nigeen - http://jklda.org/index.php/studies
--------------
Growing Diatom Algae is the best solution to keep Dal Lake or any other lake clean.
Diatoms consume the nutrients from sewage and other organic matter and produce Oxygen. So the water is clean and well oxygenated and Water Hyacinth or Cyanobacteria, etc., cannot grow.
If you click on 'Phytoplankton species' tab on the JKLDA website studies page, link above, you can see that there are more species ( 88 ) of Diatoms ( Baccilariophycae ) in Dal than Chlorophyceae ( Green Algae ) ( 64 ) or Cyanophycae ( Blue Green Algae ) ( 20 ). Growing these Diatoms is beneficial.