With mercury plunging to record lows in Kashmir, parts of Wular Lake in north Kashmir have frozen. The phenomenon has hit fishermen and those depending on the lake’s produce, with some claiming that these scenes were witnessed over two decades ago or more.Bandipora, like other parts of Kashmir, has been observing record-low temperatures, with the mercury hitting below seven notches on December 20 and 21. Ghulam Nabi, 45, a resident of Zurimaz village in Bandipora, said, “I have seen Wular Lake freezing almost after two decades. Never before has such a phenomenon occurred in recent years.”
He said that from the banks of the lake to around 15 to 20 feet, the lake freezes every morning and those leaving for the lake have to wait or break the half-inch icy surface to make way to the lake waters.
“The boatmen either take to the lake late in the afternoon or break the ice to make their way inside the lake,” Ghulam Nabi said. He said that on Sunday, it had been three days in a row that lake waters froze. “It affects the business,” Ghulam Nabi said. The phenomenon has not only affected the fishermen.
Those harvesting water chestnuts are impacted more. The water chestnuts that grow around lakesides are continuously in a frozen state, locals said. “This is affecting the cultivation process,” they said. This type of chestnut is harvested late and is used to make flour and other delicacies. Near Saderkoot Payeen, the low-lying villagers said parts of the lake, fed by River Jhelum and other tributaries “froze thick”. “I am 26 years old and my parents say the lake has frozen after over two decades. If chill continues to prevail, the lake may even remain frozen for a month,” said Tahir Aziz, a local. The villagers said that the conditions were harsh and had halted much of the activities of the fishermen, which included fishing and lotus stem harvesting besides chestnut picking.
Showkat Maqbool, an official of the Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA), who lives near the village and monitors lake areas said, “Most of the lake area is frozen.” He said that some portions where migratory birds frequently flock or move, have not frozen.
“The ice has not melted for a few days. This is affecting the moment inside the lake,” he said.
Maqbool said that if conditions prevail, the lake would remain frozen for long.
