J&K: Decreasing water levels in Hokersar wetlands attributed to construction of flood channel

According to official data, the area of Hokersar has shrunk from 14 square kilometres to less than six square kilometres in the last 10 years.

Srinagar: A flood channel built in the vicinity of Jammu and Kashmir's "queen of wetlands", Hokersar has led to a decline in the water level of the wetlands causing concern among bird lovers who claim that there has been a reduction in the visit of migratory birds. The wetland located on the Srinagar outskirts of the Srinagar-Budgam boundary attracts millions of migratory birds from Siberia and from northern cold regions.

Birds like Eurasian coots, diving ducks, and egret pintails, thrive in the wetland during the winter months. Bird lovers say the number of migratory birds coming to the wetland had decreased in recent years due to the decrease in the water level of the wetland. Following the devastating 2014 floods, the government dug out a flood spill channel in the vicinity of the wetland to drain out the floodwater in future floods.

"The flood channel decreased the water level of the wetland which left a vast area of the wetland dry due to which the migratory bird count has decreased," Javaid Sofi, a local bird lover told ETV Bharat. Sofi said the dryness of the wetland has also left it open for encroachment. In fact, according to the official data, the area of Hokersar has shrunk from 14 square kilometres to less than six square kilometres in the last 10 years.

However, the government denies that the wetland has been encroached, but admits that the flood channel has disturbed its ecosystem. "The issue of flood channel has been taken up with the department concerned and soon two gates will be built at the endpoints of the channel to maintain the water level," PK Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, told ETV Bharat.

Pole said the government has geotagged the whole area of the wetland to save it from encroachment. "Regular cleanliness drives are carried out by involving locals and school children to remove solid waste from it," he said. Hokersar declared as a Conservation Reserve under the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Wild protection Act 1978 and RAMSAR site, is also a bird sanctuary under the Indian national wetlands conservation programme.