The acute shortage of staff in the Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA) has badly hit conservation efforts aimed to revive Wular Lake, located in north Kashmir’s Bandipora and Baramulla districts. Persons privy to the matter, while talking to The project is aimed at dredging of the accumulated silt and clearing willow infestation, besides scores of other measures to maintain the ecological balance while also compensating for the deforested areas inside the lake by afforestation of the catchment areas“There are two to three closures under one zonal official, the closures range in size from 27, 30 to 40 or more hectares,” one of the Zonal officials told Greater Kashmir. One official said there are around 30 closures in catchment areas.
One example is that the Zonal officer in Baramulla has to look after two zones Ningli and Watlab. The zones have six officials in total and are required to keep watch for six closures in the zone.
The authority officials recommend forest closures in catchment areas be handed over to the forest department to reduce the burden partly.
Notably, 30 villages in Bandipora and Sopore are dependent on the lake’s produce which produces sixty percent of fish in Jammu and Kashmir. The lake also produces the famed water chestnut.
2024 saw lotus stem getting revived in the lake area near Saderkoot Payeen after nearly two decades. Notably, this area also witnessed dredging works.
The lake has been witnessing an increased number of migratory bird arrivals for three consecutive years, with rare bird sightings generating excitement for bird watchers.
In 2023, a flock of five Long-Tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis), last seen in Hokersar Lake in 1939, were spotted in Wular. Following this Horned Grebes were recorded for the first time in Wular Lake. This season, in October 2024, field officials spotted the elusive Great Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) for the first time in the Kashmir Valley in Wular Lake.
As per persons privy to the issue, the authority has to seek help from forest territorial staff, wildlife department, and forest protection force to keep the lake protected as WUCMA has no staff to patrol the areas threatened by poachers.
The WUCMA has designated six zones in the lake which include Zone Bandipora, Watlab, Ningli, Banyari, SK Payeen, and Shahgund.
Officials say Wular has 130 square km of demarcated area, with 27 square km being critically silted. The authorities have restored the 5 square km lake area, besides willow infestation of 8 square km out of 20 square km, following dredging works of 2020 to increase the water holding capacity of the lake. The sources said that keeping the lake protected is a tedious task amid low staff for the supervisory authority”.
Moreover, keeping a watch over forest closures in catchment areas in the capacity of Zonal officials adds to the frustration of already burdened staff.revealed that the conservation authority was working with a strength of around 18 members, which includes officers and support staff.
