Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir has lost nearly 3,000 hectares of lakes since 1967. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India said the reduction in lake size contributed to the devastating floods in Kashmir in 2014.In 1967, there were 367 lakes in Jammu and 330 in Kashmir. But by 2020, as many as 259 lakes in Jammu had disappeared, with a loss area of 297 hectares. A report tabled in the J&K Legislative Assembly last week stated that Kashmir lost 56 lakes by 2014 and the area lost was even larger at 1,537 hectares.Overall, J&K lost 315 lakes, almost 45% of the 1967 record. To make matters worse, the size of the remaining lakes shrank by 1,314 hectares.State and national studies have linked changes in land use in the lake area to increased flood risk. “The disappearance and shrinking of lakes degrades ecosystems, disrupts water and nutrient cycles, and increases climate vulnerability,” the CAG report states.Lakes act as natural flood buffers. In 2014, devastating floods in Kashmir completely submerged Srinagar, forcing the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to work from Hari Niwas, Maharaja Hari Singh’s palace at the foothills of Zabarwan.The 2014 flood report issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2023 stated that the carrying capacity of Jhelum, Srinagar was 35,000 ft s, but on September 6, the flow surged to 135,000 ft s.
