Dal Lake’s restoration project faces local opposition

Srinagar:People who watched yesteryear’s melodious classic ‘Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra’ from Kashmir Ki Kali can never forget the mesmerising scenic beauty of Dal Lake, enhanced in the backdrop of snow-capped Himalayas in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

As one visits today, Dal Lake is like a colony where 50,000 people from diverse economic backgrounds coexist. While most of the people owning houseboats on the lake can afford a holiday in Europe every month, some who operate the shikaras and sell tea on them lead a modest life.

The lake has an entire human ecosystem, with floating markets similar to those found in foreign countries and livelihoods dependent on the water body. Families living on the lake own shikaras, similar to how people in metro cities own cars and bikes. It is common to see schoolchildren and elders commuting in their own shikaras. The locals have farms in the lake, with portions of the water divided and barricaded much like plots and farmland on land. The police also patrol the lake in boats to maintain law and order. Cumulatively, all human efforts make appear it a congested place.

When the Jammu and Kashmir government launched a massive project to conserve and beautify Dal Lake, which involved rehabilitation of people living on the lake, all of them opposed the plan.

While some officials question how those who charge around `25,000 per night for a houseboat stay can be categorised as underprivileged and allowed to live in the lake, the residents argue that they own the lake.

"Some people only see economics. We are still addressed as fishermen, irrespective of our financial status. We are emotionally attached to the lake, where our ancestors used to live," said a Kashmiri local who runs a commercial establishment and resides on Dal Lake. This was during a conversation with a Deccan Chronicle correspondent at a media outreach programme organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Hyderabad.

Several people from other parts of Kashmir earn a living on the lake, with some operating the shikaras. Many also entertain visitors by singing the classic Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra from Kashmir Ki Kali during tours around the lake, dismissing the negativity spread by some people on social media about Kashmiris.