Embankments of Asia’s largest freshwater lake, Wular Lake in Suderkoot Payeen area in Bandipora district have turned into a garbage dump as all heaps of garbage and cow dung collected from nearby villages is being directly dumped there.
Apart from impacting the environment, the garbage affects the lake ecosystem thus affecting fish breeding while the heaps of garbage in the lake have also added to woes of fishermen in the area.
The fast deteriorating condition of the lake is mainly attributed to the dumping of garbage on its banks or close to it. “Even at Suderkoot-Payeen also Cow dung is being dumped directly into the lake which is a designated protected site under Ramsar convention,” Ishtiyaq Ahmad, a local told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
He says plastic waste dumped in the lake will be a serious threat to aquatic life in the lake, while the birds living near the lake consume such plastic materials causing asphyxiation.
Abbas Ahmad Dar, another local said that those who are polluting the lake should be penalized because the administration is working fast to clean it but on the other hand people are polluting it again.
Mushtaq Ahmad, a fisherman said they have informed about the matter to the district administration to no avail.
An official assured that strict action will be taken against those found involved in dumping the waste.
He said awareness programmes in collaboration with PRIs will be conducted in the coming days in a bid to save the lake from the pollution.
Also, garbage and cow dung will also be lifted from there, he added—(KNO)