SRINAGAR, SEPT 28: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has stepped up efforts to preserve and restore Dal Lake, with continuous manual deweeding, solid-waste removal, mechanical dredging and expansion of sewage-treatment infrastructure being undertaken to tackle pollution and deterioration of the iconic water body.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while responding to a question on the preservation of water bodies in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, informed the House that cleaning of the lake’s internal channels is being carried out on a continuous basis through manual deweeding and removal of solid waste. Mechanical dredging has also been undertaken across important stretches of Dal Lake and its adjoining waterways.
According to the Government’s response, around 10 kilometres of internal channels and waterways of Dal Lake and adjoining lake interiors have been retrieved through dredging, widening and deepening during the last three years, covering the period from 2023-24 to 2025-26. The work involved around 20 navigation and outflow channels, aimed at improving water circulation, navigation and the overall health of the lake system.
Among the major stretches taken up for mechanical dredging are the channel from Dol Damb to Meena Bazar through Angraz Hut, two principal channels in Khushalsar extending from Saidipora Bridge towards Firdousabad Colony and Sazgiripora, besides the main Gilsar channel, where dredging and deepening is reported to be nearing completion.
The Government has indicated that dredging will not stop with the works already completed. Further cleaning and dredging of priority internal channels is planned, with departmentally owned machinery being deployed during the current financial year.
Channels that require regular maintenance are also being subjected to manual deweeding and solid-waste removal as part of continuous lake-management operations.
A major component of the conservation strategy is aimed at preventing untreated sewage from entering Dal Lake.
The Chief Minister informed the House that five Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are presently operational for treating wastewater from the lake’s periphery and adjoining areas, including wastewater associated with houseboats on Dal and Nigeen. Together, the five plants have a treatment capacity of 36.70 million litres per day (MLD).
The operational facilities include the 16.10 MLD Brari-Numbal STP, 5.4 MLD Nallah Amir Khan STP, 7.5 MLD Hazratbal STP, 3.2 MLD Habak STP and 4.5 MLD Laam STP. These plants cater to different catchments around Dal and Nigeen, covering areas on the southern, western, eastern and northern sides of the lake system.
Despite the existing infrastructure, several drains and inflow points have been identified where wastewater continues to reach water bodies directly. The Government has identified locations including Ishber-Shalimar, Fisherman Colony/Dhobi Ghat, Khajayarbal, Batyarbal, Saidakadal, Hasnabad, Abi Gurpora-Naidyar-Malpora-Jogi Lanker, Khushalsar and Gilsar, among others, for sewerage intervention.
To bridge the treatment gap, a new 30 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant at Gupt Ganga is being constructed by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED). The plant is intended to cater primarily to the northern side of Dal Lake and is scheduled for completion within two years, according to the Government’s response.
Earlier government documentation placed the cost of the Gupt Ganga project at approximately ₹306 crore and described it as part of the broader effort to connect currently unconnected sewage flows to treatment infrastructure.
As an interim measure, detention and oxidation ponds developed along portions of the northern boundary between Nishat and the Habak STP are being used to handle some unconnected sewage. The Government has described this arrangement as temporary until the flows can be integrated with the proposed Gupt Ganga treatment plant.
In another significant administrative step, the Government is moving towards unified management of sewerage projects connected with Dal Lake and other Srinagar water bodies.
The sewerage projects pertaining to Dal Lake are being handed over to UEED, along with the associated men, machinery and records, following a decision taken at the 27th Board of Directors meeting. The objective is to bring sewerage planning and execution under a single agency and ensure better coordination between different projects.
The Government has also stated that Khushalsar and Gilsar were taken over by the Lake Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) in 2025, while construction of the sewerage network around these water bodies has been assigned to UEED. Anchar Lake, however, remains outside LCMA’s jurisdiction.
The ongoing measures collectively point towards a multi-pronged conservation strategy for Dal Lake—combining dredging and channel restoration, regular removal of weeds and solid waste, sewage interception and treatment, and institutional consolidation of sewerage infrastructure.
With further mechanical dredging planned and the 30 MLD Gupt Ganga STP under construction, the Government has indicated that restoration of Dal Lake will remain a continuing process rather than a one-time intervention.
