In the study, geospatial tools were employed for quantifying changes in the spatial extent of fragile ecosystems of some of the world's most famous lakes and wetlands located in the suburbs of Srinagar. The extent of lakes, wetlands and built-up land as depicted on the archive topographical map of the area dating back to 1911, was compared and analysed with respect to the spatial extent of lakes, wetlands and built-up land of the area as interpreted from IRS 1 D LISS-III satellite imagery of the year 2004 to reveal astonishing results where more than 50 percent of the water bodies have been lost during the last century.