A MAJOR operation is on to restore the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar. Encroachments around the lake are being removed by the department of housing and urban development under its lake conservation programme initiated in 1997. According to the department, a major achievement of the programme is the reclamation of more than 70,000 sq metres of illegally occupied area near Nishat. The department claims to have aquired 298 structures. But according to a minister in the Jammu and Kashmir government, the efforts are suffering due to paucity of funds.

The project was formulated following the Prefeasability Report for the Conservation of Dal and Nagin Lakes under the National Lakes Conservation Programme of the Union ministry of environment and forests. The government has also formulated a rehabilitation programme for the families residing in the Dal Lake.

It was in the 18th century that the Srinagar city started expanding towards the Dal Lake resulting in human ingress. In due time, urbanisation in catchment areas, flow of sewerage and drainage, use of pesticides and fertilisers and surface runoff resulted in the decrease in the lake area as well as congestion.