For hundreds of families living around Wular Lake, one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, it feels like a festive occasion as they row their boats each morning to collect lotus stems that have re emerged after nearly 25 years.
The people, whose livelihoods depend on the lake, begin plucking nadru from various parts of Wular during these days, even in sub-zero temperatures, and in the evenings, they return with bundles of nadru they have extracted.
For Ishfaq Ahmad Dar and his cousin Mohammad Ashraf Dar, residents of Dar Mohalla Guroora, the reemergence of major nadru cultivation in the lake feels like a festive occasion, as they are among the first to begin harvesting it.
“At first, we thought it wasn’t nadru, but when we dove deep into the lake and braved all weather conditions to retrieve it from the depths, people started chanting and informing each other. Everyone was happy because our livelihood depends on it,” Ishfaq Ahmad said.
“For the past few days, we have been harvesting nadru from Wular, and its quality is excellent, even better than that from other lakes,” he added.
Nazir Ahmad, another local, said that after 25 years, nadru production has returned to Wular Lake, as it had completely disappeared due to increasing pollution levels and rapid urbanization.
He said that the restoration and dredging projects have breathed new life into Wular Lake, which was slowly dying each passing day. “After 25 years, the return of nadru production is a sign that the lake is coming alive again,” he said.
“Apart from us,” Ahmad says, “nadru also provides a livelihood to thousands of people, including vegetable sellers, fast-food vendors, and others.”
Mohammad Ashraf said that earlier, nearly 80 percent of the inhabitants were involved in extracting chestnuts from Wular to make a living. Now, it is lotus stems that they are harvesting from the lake; otherwise, no one would be in Wular at this time.
After harvesting the lotus stems from the lake, even young kids have started selling the nadru bundles at various spots along the Bandipora-Srinagar Road, shouting, “Wular Nadru, Wular Nadru!”
Owais Farooq Mir, Project Coordinator of the Wular Conservation and Management Authority, called the development a significant achievement, noting that nadru production in the lake is now increasing, a positive sign of the dredging project’s success.
“It is the people’s property, and they have rights to it, but the department has done its best to ensure consistent production over the years by working closely with experts and taking necessary steps. Finally, nadru production in Wular is a reality,” he said.
Regarding licenses for nadru cultivators, he explained that previously, licenses were only issued to fishermen and those collecting chestnuts. Now, with the reemergence of lotus stems, the mechanism will be assessed to determine whether licenses will be provided or if it will remain open to the public.
Notably, the Wular dredging project in Kashmir aims to restore the lake’s ecological health by removing silt using high-tech dredgers, with the first phase clearing 3.1 square kilometres and removing 48.94 lakh cubic meters of silt
