Jammu and Kashmir government has failed to come up with a foolproof mechanism to streamline the process of saving the precious water bodies across the State. The government has failed to give due
attention to make water bodies breathe a safe air. Major water bodies in Kashmir including popular Wular and Dal lakes have been polluted due to the flow of garbage and untreated sewerage into them. Those who live around these lakes have spoiled their beauty and are responsible for increased pollution of the lake. But more than the people, it is the government which has to take the onus for the deteriorating
condition of the two major lakes and other streams in the rural areas. The government agencies including the Municipal Committees have failed to prevent the people from turning the water bodies into dumping
sites. However, more condemnable is the approach by some departments which have contributed to the pollution of the lakes by raising structures illegally in prohibited areas. A recent report in connection with the pollution of the Dal and Nageen lakes has noted that the government departments are responsible for the increasing pollution in these lakes. In case of Wular the vehicles of the Wular Conservation Management Authority (WUCMA) have been used to dump the waste into the lake, whose water has turned reddish due to increased pollution. The report noted that untreated sewage finds its way into
Dal and Nageen as the treatment plants are incomplete or non-functional. Even the Directorate of Indian System of Medicine has constructed a hospital in the prohibited area near Harwan, while many
illegal structures have come up along the banks of the lake from SaidaKadal to AshaiBagh. The rampant misuse of the building permission norms and lack of action by the government has turned these water
bodies into cesspools. A number of commercial establishments have been raised over the years around the Dal lake, and the discharge ofsewage, waste and silt into it have contributed to the increase in
pollution of the lake. The expanse of the Dal, Wular and Nageen lakes has significantly been reduced. However, there has been no significant improvement in the conditions of these lakes even as government has spent whopping sums of money on their restoration. The problems like the excessive weed growth, deterioration in the water quality, discharge of sewage, nutrients, particularly into the Dal lake, and
deposition of silt have persisted over the years.