62-Ecological changes in Dal Lake Kashmir and its restoration

Abstract

Dal Lake (Lat. 340 — 6' N, 740-45' E, alt. 1583m) situated in the heart of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir State is under tremendous anthropogenic pressure. The myriad ways in which people use the lake along with the numerous pollutantgenerating activities have stressed the lake ecosystem in diverse ways. Despite the fact that a number of restoration and conservation plans prepared by National and International agencies and being abortedly implemented by state authorities, there is no significant improvement in Dal lake environment; the lake conditions as a whole continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. The present paper attempts to record the changes in the hydrochemistry and biodiversity of the lake during the last three decades besides giving the current ecological status of the lake; summarizing the reasons for failure of lake restoration; suggesting measures for lake restoration based on ecosystem perspective and signifying the use of wetland mediated technology for the removal of biologically important nutrients.