Facelift for Nagin is all they fight for

The Nagin lake of Srinagar has long suffered the neglect and apathy of local people and the authorities. But now it is getting a new lease of life as the Valley people vow to restore it to its lost pristine beauty. Mufti Islah narrates the struggle of the harbingers of beauty.

Srinagar, June 14: The Nagin lake has always existed in the shadows of its illustrious sister Dal. It never got the kind of attention that Dal, which has been in the limelight even for being polluted, enjoyed.

Today its different. Nagin, which was at one time even more polluted than the Dal lake, has become the cynosure of the Valley people. Efforts by locals, spearheaded by Khursheed Naqib, chairman, Lakes and Waterways Development, has dramatically improved the seven-km lake in just three weeks.

Weeds and lily pads, floating on the the surface of the Nagin lake (Photos by Javeed Shah)

Infested all over with weeds and lily pads, the Nagin was likely to turn into a cesspool in three years but for the agile residents, who accepted the task of ``returning the lake to its pristine''.

Together with their chief motivator, Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo, the residents and people from its catchment areas started to de-weed the lake. Help came soon when Naqib made available the money for the work.

``Our delegation met Naqib at the lakeside and convinced him that they will clear the Nagin within months if his department lines up some finances for us. On May 21, he agreed. Work started the next day,'' recalls Wangnoo, who supervises the project.

Naqib too said, he had to give in to the novel idea of the residents. "They took responsibility for cleaning the lake and we also went ahead. It proved a success,'' he said, adding that ``this can set a trend for similar projects.'' People's participation can work miracles if motivation is there, he said.

``For last three weeks, we have cleansed two-thirds of the lake and the amount of money we have exhausted so far is less than Rs four lakh,'' says Wangnoo.

Wangnoo says he has employed 90-95 boats to clear the lake of the weeds and lilypads, which had grown luxuriantly in last seven years. ``Each boat is hired for five hours in the morning and paid Rs 255,'' he informs, adding we disfavoured mechanical dredging as it has proven ineffective elsewhere.

A shikara cruising through the cleansed water of the Nagin

"We have engaged people from the neighbouring areas and they know how to de-weed the lake.

Despite it's relative obscurity the emerald Nagin lake has always found place in the itinerary of the tourists because of its serene location. More than 100 houseboats, including the one made on the pattern of a butterfly, floats on its placid waters.

``Foreign tourists preferred Nagin to Dal because of its green waters and swimming and sporting facilities it offered,'' says Mohammad Ashraf of Baghwanpora.

``The lake was going to collapse had the locals not acted this time,'' says Mohammad Akbar, a shikarawalla. ``It used to take me two hours from Hazratbal to Nagin earlier, but now I cruise easily,'' he says.

"We will get rid of the weeds at the other side also so that we can then save it for our posterity,'' he says.

Despite all the goodwork, Wangnoo, however, is not that optimistic. ``Silt deposits primarily from Umar Colony, Saderbal and Lal Bazar enter the lake continuously. If that is not stopped, the health of the lake is bound to suffer,'' he regrets.

``Another factor that can spell doom for the lake is the purchasing of 1400-kanal land by Kashmir University adjoining the lake. The university is planning constructions on the land. If such a thing happens, consider the lake dead,'' he said.