TAUSEEF AHMAD
BANDIPORA, Jan 19: Barely months after devastating floods battered large parts of Kashmir in September last year, an unusually dry winter has pushed thousands of fishermen dependent on Wular Lake into a deepening livelihood crisis. Rapidly receding water levels, sharply declining fish stocks, and stalled harvesting of aquatic crops have combined to erode the traditional sources of income for entire villages around Asia’s largest freshwater lake.
For generations, families living along the fringes of Wular Lake have relied almost exclusively on fishing and the extraction of water chestnuts during the winter months. This year, however, the lake’s visibly shrunken expanse tells a grim story. Large stretches that once sustained thriving aquatic life now lie dry or too shallow to support meaningful fishing activity.
Many fishermen say they have been left with no option but to look for daily-wage labour or other temporary work, as the lake—once their lifeline—fails to sustain them.
Mohad Afzal, 45, a resident of Kulhama village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, said the crisis has affected nearly every household in his village.
“Almost 90 per cent of Kulhama’s population depends directly on Wular Lake, either through fishing or collecting water chestnuts. Today, most of them are sitting idle at home because the lake has dried up,” he told Kashmir Despatch.
Recalling better days, Afzal said that just a few years ago, winter months were a period of relative financial stability for fishermen.
“In January, a fisherman could easily earn ₹500 to ₹600 a day because the water level was sufficient. Water chestnuts were easily accessible near the regular banks. Now, the water has receded so much that even reaching the fishing spots is difficult, let alone making a decent catch,” he said, adding that feeding families has become a daily struggle.
Echoing similar concerns, Mohd Ramzana, 42, from Laharwalpora village, said falling water levels have drastically reduced daily catches.
“Every day we go to the lake with hope, and every day we return with little or nothing. The effort is the same, but the lake no longer gives back,” he said.
Ramzana also spoke about dashed hopes linked to the revival of lotus stems, locally known as nadru, an important winter crop and a significant source of income for the local population.
“After years of absence, lotus stems had started reappearing following dredging work carried out by the Wular Conservation and Management Authority. By early 2025, the blooms were widespread, and people believed that our fortunes might finally change,” he said.
However, those hopes were short-lived. Sudden floods in September last year inundated low-lying areas of the lake, submerging the lotus plants before they could mature.
“Nearly half of the crop was destroyed. What could have supported hundreds of families through winter was lost overnight,” locals estimate.
Another resident, Mohd Akbar, pointed out that the crisis cannot be blamed on weather alone.
“Yes, the dry winter has made things worse, but the lake has been suffering for years due to ecological degradation,” he said. “Heavy sedimentation, pollution from upstream waste, untreated sewage, and shrinking water depth have all contributed to the steady decline in fish and aquatic crops.”
Fishermen have urged authorities to take urgent steps to stop pollution from entering the lake, stressing that Wular remains their only dependable source of livelihood.
“If the lake dies, our community dies with it,” Akbar warned.
Environmental experts also link the current situation to broader climatic changes. According to them, prolonged dry conditions and below-normal snowfall this winter have disrupted Wular Lake’s natural recharge cycle, leading to a sharp fall in water levels.
“The lake depends heavily on winter snowfall and seasonal inflows. When these are deficient, the impact becomes visible almost immediately,” an expert said, cautioning that if the dry spell continues, the situation could deteriorate further during the summer months.
For now, as winter advances without snow and the lake continues to recede, uncertainty looms large over Wular’s fishermen—whose empty nets reflect a crisis that is ecological, economic, and deeply human.
