Sir,
The mouth of the city’s 15 major drains open into the Dal Lake, polluting its waters on a daily basis. Here the Dal dwellers are not responsibleContrary to the popular notion, the 1200 houseboats floating on the Dal waters are responsible for just three per cent of the lake’s pollution. The continuous flow of sewage into the lake from the neighbourhoods in and around it, however, is the bigger culprit. According to the Detailed Project Report prepared by the University of Roorkee’s Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, the sewage brings with it nitrogen and phosphorus which has changed physical and chemical properties of Dal waters.
“There are various point – tributaries and sewage drains – and non-point sources – seepage and diffuse runoff from catchment area – that bring these nutrients to the lake. The total Phosphorus inflow to the Dal Lake is 156.62 tons from all sources. According to the report the quantity contributed by the drains works out to be 56.36 tons. In the case of inorganic Nitrogen (NO3-N and NH3-N) these figures are 241.18 tons and 77.609 tons with a flow of 11.701 million m3/year. Similarly from the non-point sources 4.5 tons of total phosphates and 18.14 tons of nitrogen (NO3-N and NH4-N) are added to the lake.
Impact of Pollution in Dal Lake on the Lives of People
Sringar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir state although surrounded by lakes, streams, rivers and mountains faces shortage of a clean drinking water supply for domestic use! An appallingly high infant mortality of 1 in 5 due to common water borne infectious diseases is directly related to unclean water supplies throughout the valley. Forty percent of all illnesses are related to polluted water supplies, resulting into frequent outbreaks of ineffective hepatitis, gastroenteritis, poliomyelitis, typhoid and cholera.
Biological method
Instead of resorting to the use of mechanical methods, we shoulduse a particular species of fish,Silver and Green Carp.”
The Silver and Green Carp feed on weeds and Algae. They dig deep into the root of the weeds for food and uproot the weeds that increases the depth of the lake. Dal Lake suffers on both counts.
The Silver Carp survive from minus 10 to 35 degree Celsius.
The Silver carp suffer from high rate of mortality which is, however, offset by equally high rate of production.
Most importantly this carp can consume up to 50 kgs of algae and weeds during its lifetime but its weight grows by only 1 kg.
The species of this fish that can be suitable for Dal Lake is produced in (Hong Kong) China.
Yours etc….
Isha Sharma
On e-mail
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