Kashmir’s Dal Lake: From Eviction to Community-Led Conservation

SRINAGAR, India — The Jammu and Kashmir government has abandoned a three-decade-old policy of relocating families from Dal Lake, replacing it with a new conservation strategy that treats lake dwellers as partners in restoration rather than obstacles to it.

The policy shift, announced in March 2026, comes as residents around the iconic Himalayan lake witnessed green sludge accumulating on the water’s surface in recent weeks, triggering public concern about pollution levels in the 18-square-kilometre wetland ecosystem.

Under the new approach, named the “Integrated Management Plan of Dal-Nigeen Lake,” authorities will develop 58 habitations inside the lake into eco-friendly hamlets with sewage systems, treated inflowing drains, and improved water circulation through dredging and channel restoration. The plan is currently under approval with the Government of India.

Relocation Plan Shelved After Limited Progress

The previous rehabilitation project, approved in 2009 with a budget of 416.72 crore rupees, aimed to move nearly 9,000 families living near Dal Lake to newly built colonies on Srinagar’s outskirts. Authorities had identified human settlements within the lake as a major source of pollution and encroachment.

However, the Lakes Conservation and Management Authority managed to relocate only 3,108 families from inside the Dal Lake to various housing colonies in Srinagar over 36 years, achieving a rehabilitation target of just 27 percent, according to documents presented by the Jammu and Kashmir government in the assembly.

Another account indicates the project was able to relocate 1,808 families in 17 years since implementation began nearly two decades ago. The drive to relocate people living on the lake started in 2010-11 by the lake authority, after the Save Dal Project began around 1997 to control water pollution caused by sewage and littering from households and houseboats.

The relocation process faced consistent backlash from lake dwellers, mostly boat rowers, vegetable growers and fishing communities whose livelihoods depended on the lake.

Green Sludge Sparks Public Outcry

The policy reversal follows weeks of visible environmental changes on Dal Lake. Photos circulating on social media showed green film accumulating on the water, prompting warnings from citizens and environmentalists about heavy sewage pollution in the lake at the heart of Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital.

Muzamil Ahmad Rafiqui, Superintending Engineer for Kashmir’s Lake Conservation and Management Authority, acknowledged the lake receives nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants from peripheries due to agricultural and other activities. However, he attributed the recent discoloration primarily to environmental conditions.

“Also, when the inflow from all the channels supplying water to the lake is extremely low and the outflow gates of the lake are also closed for retaining water in the lake, it is quite natural there will be changes in the water colour in a stagnant water body.”

Muzamil Ahmad Rafiqui, Superintending Engineer, LCMA

Rafiqui noted the discoloration was due to over 50 percent reduction in precipitation and constant above-normal temperatures for weeks during this season in Kashmir.

From Exclusion to Participation

The new conservation model recognizes lake dwellers as part of the ecosystem rather than obstacles to restoration. A high-level committee headed by the divisional commissioner noted in 2022 that people living on the lake were an integral part of the ecosystem and the relocation process had taken too long.

The committee’s recommendations formed the basis of the eco-hamlet plan, which was proposed following recommendations from a Committee of Experts formed by the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in 2018 after disposing of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Syed Iqbal Tahir Geelani in 2015.

The Committee of Experts was headed by former Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Dr. E Sreedharan, former Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala Government Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd Managing Director Dr. Mangu Singh, and M.C. Mehta, a retired IFS officer from Jammu and Kashmir. Its aim was to suggest recommendations for securing the lake as an Eco-Sensitive Zone under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and restore its ecosystem.

The lake has shrunk from an area of 50 square kilometers to 13.5 square kilometers during recent decades.

Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a prominent environmental and social activist based in Srinagar who frequently files petitions in India’s National Green Tribunal, described the shift as significant.

“It is a striking shift in philosophy. The very communities who were once blamed for the lake’s decline are now being seen as potential guardians.”

Raja Muzaffar Bhat, Environmental Activist

Bhat added that the new strategy’s success may depend on whether it combines community participation with stronger environmental governance.

Relocated Families Question the Reversal

For families already relocated, the policy change has reopened difficult questions. At Rakh-e-Arath, a rehabilitation colony on Srinagar’s outskirts built for displaced lake residents, Mohammd Ashraf said his family was relocated 10 years ago after being told their presence was destroying the lake.

“Our time was wasted and our livelihoods were ruined. We only know the lake as we were born there and have spent our childhood and youth by the lake. Fishing, growing vegetables on floating gardens, and rowing tourists in small boats are what we are adapted to.”

Mohammd Ashraf, Relocated Resident

Ashraf said he welcomes the new approach and hopes relocated families will be taken back to the lake. Other relocated families expressed similar sentiments.

Communities living on the lake have historically maintained its channels, harvested weeds and monitored changes in water conditions. Akram Guru, a Shikara Walla at Dal Lake, said residents have long urged the government to give them responsibility for conserving the lake.

“We have been dubbed as the lake’s destroyers for decades. Now they say the lake needs its people. I hope the change in the government’s approach finally facilitates our contribution to protecting the lake.”

Akram Guru, Shikara Walla

Experts Warn Infrastructure Must Follow

Iftikhar Drabu, a senior engineer specializing in water engineering, cautioned that community participation alone will not restore the lake without stronger sewage infrastructure, strict regulation of tourism and effective monitoring of inflowing drains.

“Nothing will work in isolation. A multi-pronged approach is needed for conserving the lake.”

Iftikhar Drabu, Water Engineering Specialist

Scientific studies and official watchdogs have documented decades of pollution, sewage inflow and unregulated urban growth degrading the lake. A report submitted by Kashmir’s Pollution Control Committee to the National Green Tribunal confirmed the “unabated flow of untreated sewage” into Dal Lake in “violation of environmental norms.”

Reporting based on Inter Press Service, March 31, 2026