Condition Of The Dal Lake

[HIraeth]

Kashmir is hands down one of grandest and most breathtaking places I have ever visited. It wasn't called "heaven on Earth" for nothing. And one of its most famous attractions is the Dal Lake. However, when I visited last year, I was so disappointed at the state of this water body. We had booked a boat house for day and honestly I was expecting a peaceful and serene place. While the boat house was a piece of architecture with intricate woodwork and paneling, it was truly disheartening to look out of the window and balcony and notice food wrappers, plastic cups and all kinds of trash floating on the water. We had booked one of the better located and higher priced boats which is why we still got a relatively clean area. The cheaper options were situated in parts of the lake that looked less like a water body and more like a congested refugee settlement area.

For one, I cannot for the life of me figure how people can even think of droping their trash into the water and polluting such a godly place. And then I don't understand why the Kashmir government doesn't pass laws where any person caught doing this will be fined a hefty amount. Or atleast have monthly cleaning done in the Lake. I don't think we as people have the right to damage the beauty and purity of such a beautiful place with our carelessness, ignorance and unplanned commercialization to satisfy our greed. I sincerely hope the fabled Lake gets to return to what it was someday again.

 

[misskrystal1982]

I agree that people are ridiculous with their trash. I never throw trash on the ground or out of a window. It takes away from the beauty of a location and is terrible for the wildlife. I have started taking a trash bag with me when I know I will be going somewhere like a lake or some sort of natural place. I make a point to pick up the trash I come across. Hopefully, some other people will see me and then think about their actions. If I can change one persons thoughts by picking up others things, then I have done something good. I am also keeping it out of nature and protecting the wildlife.

 

[amelia88]

The way the world is going, I feel like a lot of natural beauty out there is going to be destroyed by trash. Sadly I think when people litter, they always think it's someone else's problem rather than their own. There's that mentality that "someone else will pick it up" but when that doesn't happen and everyone has that mindset, places can become very polluted very fast!

I too hope that the lake is restored to its' former glory. It's sad that such a wonder of nature is now looking like a trash dump. I think your suggestions are good - fines for anyone caught littering and things like a regular clean up would be very beneficial in reducing the amount of litter in the area.

 

[Delirium]

Unfortunately, throwing trash into the river is extremely common in Asian countries, and that includes Asia. It's really such a shame because Asia really has the prettiest environment out of all the continents - and I believe most would be absolutely stunning if they were clean. Take a look at this Indonesian river:

The condition is absolutely tragic, and they're going to have a reaaaaally hard time fixing it. There's just no way they can ever clear the trash out of the river. Because people just keeps throwing more trash into it. It's a never-ending cycle. These rivers are what the other side of the countries that travel brochures never show.

 

[pwarbi]

Its certainly sad to see a beautiful destination spoiled by humans, but sadly we seem to do that quite regularly.

As more and more places become tourist destinations, I can only see the problem getting worse. People seem to be losing respect when it comes to nature but maybe the lack of respect is more of a social problem these days regarding everything.

 

[amelia88]

Its certainly sad to see a beautiful destination spoiled by humans, but sadly we seem to do that quite regularly.

As more and more places become tourist destinations, I can only see the problem getting worse. People seem to be losing respect when it comes to nature but maybe the lack of respect is more of a social problem these days regarding everything.

Yes - it really does seem like these days there's a bit of an "everyone for themselves" kind of mentality - if it's inconvenient for someone to dispose of their trash it seems like they'll just dump it. No repercussions or future consequences are considered or anything like that. It's really quite sad when you think about the sheer impact that kind of thinking has on the environment.

 

[HIraeth]

This is what the Dal Lake looked like when it was still pristine and clean despite being open to tourists.

And now, with people turning the waters into something like what you see in the following image, I don't think the famous lake will survive for very long.

 

[briannagodess]

I think that we're merely caretakers of this Earth we live in. And it's sad that we are not doing a great job in taking care of it. Dal Lake looks amazing from those first pictures you posted. The last picture is not that bad and I think there is still hope in it recovering from the damage that has been done to it. I came too from an Asian country, and believe me, the rivers and lakes here are far more polluted than that. Sadly, they cannot be saved anymore. I hope Dal Lake gets saved before it's too late. It's disappointing to know that we've become more like polluters than caretakers of our environment.

 

[sillyllucy]

That is such a shame! It is so sad that mother nature has to suffer from the plastic and trash that we generate. How hard is it if everyone spent one hour a week picking up trash? I am sure our world would look much nicer.

 

[Steve Dawson]

This is shocking and depressing, humanity is such a destructive species. Although most of us would never desecrate such a wonderful natural environment, unfortunately there is a sizable minority who think nothing of it. The tarnishing of this incredibly beautiful place will take enormous effort and cost to clean up, but it must be cleaned. Time is gradually running out for all of us unless we can begin to start taking greater care of the World we live in.

 

[artyarson]

Oh, God! This lake looks absolutely beautiful. On the first set of pictures, of course. Sure, the pollution is such a vile thing to do. Does it still have clean spots or is it all lost as for today? I wanna believe in the first so badly.

 

[Namiee]

Kashmir is hands down one of grandest and most breathtaking places I have ever visited. It wasn't called "heaven on Earth" for nothing. And one of its most famous attractions is the Dal Lake. However, when I visited last year, I was so disappointed at the state of this water body. We had booked a boat house for day and honestly I was expecting a peaceful and serene place. While the boat house was a piece of architecture with intricate woodwork and paneling, it was truly disheartening to look out of the window and balcony and notice food wrappers, plastic cups and all kinds of trash floating on the water. We had booked one of the better located and higher priced boats which is why we still got a relatively clean area. The cheaper options were situated in parts of the lake that looked less like a water body and more like a congested refugee settlement area.

For one, I cannot for the life of me figure how people can even think of droping their trash into the water and polluting such a godly place. And then I don't understand why the Kashmir government doesn't pass laws where any person caught doing this will be fined a hefty amount. Or atleast have monthly cleaning done in the Lake. I don't think we as people have the right to damage the beauty and purity of such a beautiful place with our carelessness, ignorance and unplanned commercialization to satisfy our greed. I sincerely hope the fabled Lake gets to return to what it was someday again.

When I'd gone to visit my mother, the two of us had visited the Dal Lake and I noticed two delinquent teenagers tossing their fast food waste into the lake! One could argue that they were just drinking cups, but I wholeheartedly detest pollution, especially of something so beautiful. I cannot express with words how angry this made me. I'll share an image of the lake that I took while I was there with you guys, but I think a big reason why the lake is so polluted is because of youngsters that don't know the slightest bit of respect. Either because they don't know its history, or because they don't quite grasp how important it is to some people.

Isn't it beautiful? What would bring someone to toss trash here?

 

[Jani]

Sadly, a lot of people trash some beautiful places. If you've seen any of the pictures of how many plastic bottles there are in the middle of the ocean, you can see that some people just don't care.

 

[sarfraz]

The heart of the Kashmir is known as Srinagar, the heart of the Srinagar is known as Dal Lake, because of its own frame. The Dal Lake is not famous only in India but is famous through out the World.

 

[Mindy]

Thanks for that info, sarfraz. I didn't ever realize that the Dal Lake had any other official name besides Dal Lake. They might as well just change it to that, because, as you say, that's the way it is known the world over.