Srinagar, Sep 29: Once known for its pristine glory, Khushalsar Lake has now become a dumping site here in Kashmir capital Srinagar.
The unabated pollution and rampant encroachment with the active support of land mafia in connivance with Srinagar Municipal Corporation have made this lake which is located between Hawal and Zadibal areas of old Srinagar city and receives waters from Dal lake through Gilsar lake and finally merges with Aanchar lake a history.
Scores of photographs of this once beautiful and serene lake are on viral on social media. These photographs depict a grim picture of the lake. They show how this lake has been turned into a garbage dumping site and how illegal structures have come with the consent of concerned officials.
“Tons of polythene bags, garbage are being dumped into this lake much annoyance to the concerned citizens. A vast portion of the lake has been occupied illegally by land-mafia and even in times of Covid pandemic, illegal structures were coming up freely,” said a local Muhammad Umar to news agency Kashmir News Trust.
“It is wrong to say that Khushalsar is dying but it has already died and this is the reality. The official apathy is the cause of its silent death,” said another local lamenting that such a famed lake that once possessed rich aquatic life was killed by voracious people with official consent.
“One finds massive encroachment from all sides and these encroachments continue unabated in the absence of any monitoring.”
A respectable citizen said that nothing is being done to restore the pristine glory of this lake and even that plan of restoration submitted by ‘Lakes and Waterway Development Authority’ (LAWDA) was not approved and this shows the non-seriousness on part of the government.
