“Study finds heavy metals in water chestnuts from Wular and three other wetlands as harvesters report foul-smelling water, skin irritation and declining production”
Tauseef Ahmad
Srinagar, July 13: Every summer, thousands of women in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district wade into Kashmir’s Wular Lake before dawn to harvest green water chestnuts (singhara), a centuries-old tradition that has sustained fishing families for generations. From July to September, they spend hours waist-deep in the lake, filling their wooden boats with the edible crop that once flourished in India’s largest freshwater lake.
But with each passing year the fisherman community says Wular is changing and they are losing their only source of livelihood. The water has turned darker, a pungent smell now hangs over parts of the lake, water levels have receded, and every harvester now wears gloves—and masks—to protect themselves while working.
Their experiences coincide with a recent study published in Scientific Reports, which found that water chestnuts from Wular and three other Kashmir wetlands—Dal, Hokersar and Manasbal—contain heavy metals, raising concerns about pollution, food safety and the future of the Valley’s freshwater ecosystems.
Every morning at around 5 a.m., hundreds of women from villages surrounding Wular lale including Lahwarlpora, Zurimanz, Kanbathi, Lankreshipor, Saderkot and other villages paddle small wooden boats into the sprawling lake. Standing waist-deep in water for hours, they pull water chestnuts from the muddy lakebed before returning home in the afternoon.
“In the peak season, I now only collect 10 to 15 kilograms a day,” said Shabnam Begum, a 42-year-old harvester from Lankreshipora. “Years ago, one woman could easily bring back more than 30 kilograms. The water has changed completely. It has become dark, the smell has increased and our hands start itching if we don’t wear gloves.”
Begum said that as a child she remembered drinking water directly from parts of the lake during long harvesting days. Today, she said, that is unthinkable.
“We now wear gloves and sometimes even masks while working in the same lake from which we once drank water,” she said. “The smell has become unbearable in some places.”
Water chestnut extraction has traditionally been carried out almost entirely by women, providing seasonal income to hundreds of fishing families around Wular.
“We leave our homes before sunrise and spend the whole morning in the lake,” said Rubeena Bano, another harvester. “Earlier the water was clean and fresh. Now there is a foul smell everywhere, and many women develop rashes after working in the water.”
Bano said the falling water level has made harvesting more difficult in some areas while dense weeds and polluted water have reduced the quality of the crop. She said many women worry about their health but have little choice except to continue working because the seasonal harvest is a vital source of income.
The shrinking harvest is adding to the hardship of fishing communities already struggling with declining fish stocks.
Reacting to the claims of Wular Conservation Management authority of cleaning the lake, residents said that by cleaning one patch which measures only 2 to 3 percent doesn’t mean they have restored it all.
Ghulam Mohd, the local fisherman in Zurimanz said that around 30 villages are directly and indirectly dependent on lakes whose livelihood is at risk and authorities are in deep sleep. “Involve us, when you can ban plastic for Gurez, ban it too in other parts of the district, do regular monitoring on local streams, it will help families like us to earn their livelihood.”
He adds, during his recent visit to Bandipora he saw many women throwing dustbins in Nallah Mudhamati which directly enters in Wular. “Claiming the are cleaning lakes and streams are baseless when they even cannot control things in even public places. Pollution Madhumati, or other nallah have major impact or similar and it directly affects livelihood of thousands of families.”
“Wular was once known for its freshwater and abundant fish,” said Gh Hassan, a fisherman from Zurimanz Bandipora. “Today, the smell itself tells you how polluted the lake has become. Fish production has fallen, water chestnut production has also declined, and with both disappearing, we are losing our livelihood.”
Dar said families that once depended almost entirely on fishing and wetland harvesting are increasingly searching for daily wage work because the lake no longer provides enough income.
Local contractor Abdul Rashid, who purchases water chestnuts before selling them in markets across Kashmir, said production has steadily declined over the years.
“Earlier women supplied much larger quantities every season,” he said. “Now they return with much smaller harvests. The quality has also declined, affecting traders as well as harvesters.”
Residents say government agencies have repeatedly announced restoration programmes for Wular, including dredging and conservation measures, but they say little has improved.
“Officials say the lake is being restored, but on the ground we continue to see pollution increasing and water levels decreasing,” Dar said.
The harvesters’ observations closely mirror scientific findings. Researchers analysed water, sediments and water chestnut plants collected from Wular, Dal, Hokersar and Manasbal wetlands and detected heavy metals—including cadmium, chromium, nickel, zinc and iron—in edible plant tissues.
The study found contamination was highest in Dal Lake but warned that pollution across Kashmir’s freshwater wetlands is entering aquatic food sources and could pose risks to human health. The researchers recommended continuous monitoring, improved wastewater treatment and stricter pollution-control measures to protect both ecosystems and communities.
For the women who spend months inside Wular every year, however, the evidence is already visible.
“We don’t need research to tell us the lake is sick,” Begum said. “We see the water changing every year. We smell it every day, we feel it on our skin, and we are watching the livelihood our mothers passed on to us slowly disappear.”
