There was a time when the sight of Dal Lake was enough to define Srinagar. Today, however, the same lake is increasingly becoming a test of whether the administration has the will to protect what belongs not to one mohalla, one family or one generation, but to the entire people of Kashmir. The alarming pace at which portions of the lake are allegedly being filled and encroached upon should concern every citizen. What is even more disturbing is the impression that a race has begun: one locality appears determined to reclaim more lake space before another does. If this continues unchecked, the question will soon not be who is encroaching, but how much of Dal Lake will actually remain.
The administration cannot afford to treat such developments as ordinary violations. Dal Lake is officially recognised as a major tourism and recreational asset of Srinagar, with its wetlands, floating gardens, houseboats and associated livelihoods forming an important part of the city’s identity. The Srinagar Master Plan itself has previously acknowledged rampant encroachment along portions of the lake and proposed measures to act as a deterrent to further illegal occupation.
Yet, if allegations of fresh filling are correct, the question is simple: who is allowing it to happen?
A lake cannot be filled overnight. Trucks, earth-moving machinery, construction material and human activity cannot operate indefinitely without someone noticing. If illegal filling is taking place at scale, there must be an accountability chain, from the field level to the supervisory level. Silence, delay or selective action only deepens public suspicion. Equally worrying are allegations that elements within the system may be facilitating or protecting such activity. These allegations must be investigated impartially rather than dismissed. If they are false, the administration should establish the facts and clear the air. If they are true, those responsible, irrespective of position or influence, must face the law.
The political dimension cannot be ignored either. Lake protection becomes particularly difficult when enforcement is perceived through the prism of electoral calculations. No elected representative should have to choose between protecting an ecosystem and protecting a vote bank. Public representatives are elected to protect public resources, including those that cannot vote. Dal Lake cannot become a casualty of short-term political convenience.
There is also a dangerous social psychology developing around encroachment: if one person can get away with it, why should another remain behind? Once such thinking becomes normal, law itself loses its deterrent value. An illegal act becomes a precedent, the precedent becomes a claim, and eventually the destruction of a public resource starts being presented as a matter of individual entitlement. This is precisely why the administration needs to act before the situation reaches a point of no return.
The response should not merely consist of occasional demolition drives or photographs of enforcement teams. There must be a transparent mapping of vulnerable areas, identification of fresh filling, immediate stoppage of ongoing work, restoration of reclaimed portions wherever legally and technically feasible, and fixing of responsibility for administrative negligence. The government has the institutional machinery to do this. The Housing and Urban Development Department lists the Lakes Conservation and Management Authority among the agencies responsible for lake management, while Srinagar’s civic administration also identifies environmental protection and responsible urban development among its stated priorities.
What is required now is coordination and, above all, political will. Dal Lake should not become a bargaining chip between mohallas, officials and politicians. Nor should its future depend on who can mobilise greater local pressure. A lake does not have a vote. It cannot attend an election rally. It cannot approach an MLA or minister. But it provides Srinagar with an identity, supports livelihoods and remains one of Kashmir’s most valuable natural assets. If the filling continues today, tomorrow’s generations will not ask which mohalla gained the most land. They will ask a much more uncomfortable question: When Dal Lake was being swallowed, where was the administration?
