Wular Lake and Pollution Status: A Major Concern

Abstract

In order to attain the sustainability of water bodies in Kashmir Valley their protection is very urgent. Water is the precious environmental component among all other components and should be managed so as to agricultural, industrial and domestic needs of water can be fulfilled. But unfortunately the water bodies are at risk due to the waste generated in their catchment area was not properly treated and makes these water bodies unfit for all purposes. In Kashmir Valley, Wular Lake is India's largest freshwater lake, located 34 kilometers from Srinagar at an elevation of 1580 meters between 74°29′E and 74°40′E longitudes and 34°16′N and 34°25′N latitudes. With a surface area of 112.77 km2, a maximum length of 16 km, and a maximum width of 9.6 km, it is elliptical in shape. The study has been undertaken on the Wular Lake of Srinagar, Kashmir on randomly selected sampling sites by simple random selection. The samples were collected in prewashed clean plastic bottles. After that samples were promptly brought to scientific laboratory and further investigation began immediately. These samples were investigated with respect to turbidity, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. Methods used for these parameters were Turbidometer, pH Meter, Thermometer and Wrinkler’sIodometric Method. The findings of the study that the overall conditions of Lake Wular are critical from pollution point of view. The main sources of pollution came from agricultural activities, domestic waste water and agricultural runoff. Various mitigation measures for lake conservation have been proposed, including increasing forest cover in the direct catchment area, removing excess weeds from the lake on a regular basis, reducing area under degraded pastures and improving the quality of existing pasture lands, reducing degraded area under agriculture/horticulture in the catchment area, and enhancing current water storage capacity, proving an opportunity to accommodate high flows, which are forced in the absence of adequate storage. As a result of these actions, Lake Wular's overall pollution will be reduced.