This summer, he was attracted by something unusual: the scattering of lotus flowers with pale pink petals was gently developed on the surface of one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, long weed, soiling and neglect.
The sight calmed his oar. For the gift, the return of this fragile flower was more than beauty, because it was the promise of the economic rescue rope for communities bound to the lake.
“I’ve never seen lotus plants in the lake before,” the gift said. “Due to the strong local demand for a superior, edible lotus stem, this flower could transform the wealth of fishing community.”
It is valued on the domestic markets and finds the growing base of international merchants. Before selling, the stems are carefully sorted and tied into bundles that are sorted by length and thickness to ensure quality. Standard 2-kilogram bunch usually sells £250- £350 while the highest degree packages can command prices up to £1,000- £1 200.
Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera) bloom in Wular after almost 30 years. They disappeared in September 1992, when a devastating flood swept through the valley. The water from the Jhelum River plunged into the lake and stored a strong mud that struck aquatic plants and crippled its fragile ecosystem. For decades, the sediment had the lake stagnated and infertile.
“For years, I thought Lotus had disappeared from Wular,” Dar Mint said, laying the oar on his side of his ship. “But maybe they just slept under the mud and waited for them to get back at the right moment. When I saw them in July, he felt as if the lake was breathing differently, as if it were alive in my lifetime.”
The gift attributed the sudden appearance of lotus plants in the lake to the recent Wula Conservation and Management Authority (Wucma). Determination, said, created conditions for plants to make the lake home again.
“Six meters of mud was cleaned from the patch that temporarily changed the water.
Similarly, Ovais Mir, the project coordinator in Wucma, said Mint that Lotus’s return to Wular Lake is the result of the years of ecological renewal after decades of Siltation is almost erased.
“It is not only the result of government work, but a clear example of how the restoration can revive lost ecosystems. There were small spots where Lotus grew earlier, usually in shallow areas that still had water, but the seeds gradually disappeared due to severe siltation and reducing water zones,” he explained.
“Through our 2020 renewal program, we have identified critically soiled areas and started dredging five square kilometers and more than 7.9 million cubic meters of mud has been removed from the lake,” he added.
Anzar Khuroo, a professor of botany at the University of Kashmir, described him as a promising effort to restore and a successful story to manage the protection of wetlands in the region.
“When people living in the river basin, which depend on the lake, begin to see direct economic yields, it is more likely to protect it. This form of participating protection, where there is a livelihood and ecological lake health in hand, is the most effective way to preserve a wetland like a Wular,” he said.
Kashmir’s degrading rope rope
In the Kashmir valley there is a lotus stem more than just vegetables. It’s a valuable culinary treasure. Honor, in households throughout the region, it is a key component for Wazwan, complicated and highly famous traditional feasts prepared during wedding and festivals.
Fishermen say that the harvest of the superior is a work and culturally important practice concerning farmers who dive the neck deep into the waters of the lake to collect lotus stems. It is said that overwril -grown in Wular is different in taste and color from the color grown in other lakes, including Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake and Anchar Lake.
Communities living along the shores of Wular Lake are strongly relying on their sources, with fishing and chestnut collection, locally known as Gaer, serving as their primary sources of income. However, the decrease in fish population due to pollution threw the shadow above their livelihood.
Abdul Aziz Malla, a 64 -year -old fisherman, remembered that about 45 years ago a lake was full of lotus plants and home to seven fish species, each fisherman caught about 50 kilograms of fish a day to maintain. “Today, only one type of fish remains, no lotus stems have been harvested in three decades, and daily catches dropped to just 5-10 kilograms. Our village Zurimanz, locally known as” Bangladesh “, has about 250 households and almost everyone depends on the lake.”
However, observation of flowering lotus plants has triggered a new hope for better nutrition and a more promising future for the dependent inhabitants of the lake.
Abdul Majed, another young fisherman from Zurimanz, a village in the Bandipora district North Kashmir on the shores of Wula Lake, told Mint that the harvest of the lotus stems can not only strengthen the income of fishermen, but also help maintain the cleanliness of the lake because plants require regular maintenance.
“It’s the first time in my life, when I saw lotus plants that grow here,” said a 32 -year -old man. “It’s probably because of forced and dredging. For us it’s a signal. If we want these plants to return every year, we have to take care of the lake. That means keeping it clean, avoiding pollution and treating it as our responsibility.
Wular Lake, located at the foot of the Harkukh Mountains and a range of 130 square kilometers between the Baramulla and Bandipora districts, has decreased significantly in the last century. Official records and more studies show that the open water area of the lake in 1911 decreased from approximately 89.6 km2 to about 15.7 km2.
This alarming shrinkage is mainly driven by the mud deposition from the flood, degradation of the basin, the conversion of the lake area into agriculture and plantations and pollution.
According to local fishermen, Wular Lake, 62 kilometers north of Srinagar, it adds almost 54% of the total production of Kashmir and gains more than 4,000 tonnes per year. Yet, despite its ecological and economic importance, it has long been neglected by the government.
“Wular has everything. It attracts tourists and maintains a living for nearly 10,000 families depending on fishing, chestnut harvest and now lotus,” said Ghulam Hassan, President of the Wular Fishermens Association. “But contamination, mining, dam design and continuing official neglect pushed the lake to the edge. If the effort to dred and restore is not made forward, Wular loses its shine in the next three years.”
Wular Lake, designed for the Ramsar Wetland, is a key winter refuge for thousands of migratory birds – from the rare Siberian crane to Mallards, Pochars, gray -green and Gadwalls – originating from Siberia, Central Asia and on.
Malla, whose only son Amir Aziz Mall, also works on the lake, now hopes for better days ahead. He believes that the revival of lotus plants could increase the income of fishermen, help them support their families and repay the loans they took from fish dealers.
Green economy
Khuroo also emphasized the wider consequences of traditional overwhelming for Kashmir’s green economy and called for a possible replication of such effort throughout the region. “Traditional water agriculture is quietly increasing and the cultivation of the overrule appears as a possibility of sustainable living. If it is well managed, this model can be expanded to other wetlands,” said the professor.
Mir said that the National Institute of Hydrology, Rocee, is expected to publish a comprehensive report in 2026, which evaluates the Wular dynamics for water, ecosystem health and the impact of excavating. “We expect the news that about five kilometers of lakes has recovered ecologically and increased its overall environment in the area of the environment.”
He explained that from the 130 square kilometers recorded lake areas, 27 km2 kilometers are a critically soiled country. “Of these, five square kilometers were revived. With the remaining challenges and complex dynamics of biodiversity, it is necessary to seize the local communities and respect their rights to maintain this progress.”
Qadri said that the real impact would be felt in the coming months, as the harvest begins. “Until September, Lakhs will flow to the local economy because fishermen harvest Lotus for the first time in three decades. This means a turning point for green living in the region.”
The success of lotus stems in Wular also offers a valuable plan for the wider ambition of the green economy, showing how targeted investments in ecosystems can create tangible economic benefits, create green jobs and seize local communities, Mir said.
(Tagstotranslate) WULAR LAKE (T) Lotus flowers
