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| Lake Mansar: Picture of neglect and total despondence | | | Pankhuri Aggarwal
Jammu, Feb 25: It's nearness to Jammu city and several other towns and rural settlement in the plain with both strong population and economic base to its popularity and the crowd. So does easy accessibility. Mansar is well connected with other plains through all weather two way roads, notwithstanding the fact that the treacherous hilly terrain and its tortuous route that follows contour on vertical hill slopes have all the ingredients of dodging even the most adopt at the wheels.
The famous Mansar Lake, which is marked on the national and state tourist maps, has shrunk and the water level in it has dropped over fifteen to twenty feet. The lake , is situated in the midst of lusting greeneries surrounded by forests and is visited by thousands of domestic and outside tourists every year, though it sans the basic facilities. It is a fresh water lake without any inflow or outflow and is shrinking due to the supply of water from it to the nearby villages.
The eastern end of the park looks like a bazaar, which is expanding quite fast among the most frequented and crowded eastern shores.
While the former is popular with the youth, the latter is with the children, notwithstanding the fact that both the places are unsafe in their present state and management. Boat riders are clueless about the lake depth without an isobaths map and children are always at risk in an area on the lake edge. No one bothers, however. Increasing popularity of Mansar and its receding water level over the years has increased lake water pollution that is all too visible in the eutrophication all along its shores. People are very concerned over its shrinking and have formed Mansar Bachao Andolan (MBA) committee to fight for its protection.
"Earlier, the filthy household water and fertilizers mixed rain water from the nearby field also flowed into the lake, but after the death of hundreds of water breathing fishes, all entry points were plugged off from the lake", said the cleaning head of Mansar Lake Sham Sundar. He further added, "Due to its shrinking, the lake had reached the point from where the danger level started. He attributed the three deaths in the lake in the past few months due to the reduced size of the water body. Earlier people used to take bath on stairs and never dared to go deeper but due to the depletion in the water level, the situation has changed. Now people tend to take a step or two more than the permissible limit leading them into the death bed."
Many promises were been made regarding the supply of water to the nearby towns and adjoining villages for only drinking purpose, but no step has been taken up by the authorities concerned to fulfill their commitments. Palvinder Singh, who runs a tea stall close to the lake said, "We will not let it happen and if need arises, we will adopt agitation path to ensure the government to take requisite steps for its protection." Pointing towards the stairs at the bathing ghat for women, he said, "At least five stairs were immersed in water earlier, but now the water level has dropped over a passage of time to about twelve feet and all the stairs has become visible."
A tourist from Udampur Ravi Sharma said, "Receding lake water therefore poses a much bigger threat than the water pollution problem in the ecosystem. The exposed dry bed may soon get transformed into real estate, which may be unavoidable as faith surrenders to commerce and pilgrimage to pleasure trip." |
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