Bandipora, Jul 10: After a gap of nearly 30 years, lotus flowers have reappeared in Wular Lake in north Kashmir, renewing hope for communities that once depended on the lake for their livelihood.
The flowers, locally known for their edible stems called nadru, had disappeared after the devastating floods of 1992 deposited thick layers of silt across the lakebed.
The revival of the lotus is being attributed to an ongoing desilting and restoration project by the Wular Lake Management Authority.
The initiative, which started in 2020, aimed to restore the lake’s original depth and improve water flow by removing silt and waste carried by the Jhelum River and its tributaries.
Mohammad Yaqoob, a local farmer from Watlab village, stood by the water’s edge watching the blooms. “We thought this would never return,” he shared with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO). “My father used to harvest lotus stems here. I used to help him when I was young. Then the flood came and everything changed.”
The lake, spread over nearly 200 square kilometres and located between the towns of Bandipora and Sopore, was once a major source of income for hundreds of families.
The lotus stem is a popular ingredient in traditional Kashmiri dishes, and its harvesting provided seasonal employment, especially during the winter months when other work was scarce.
An official associated with the restoration project explained that while lotus stems hadn’t been seen for decades, the plant’s root structures remained buried beneath the silt.
“Once we began removing the silt in targeted areas, lotus began to appear again,” he said. “This year, we introduced lotus seeds in areas where dredging had been completed.”
The desilting work has so far removed over 7.9 million cubic meters of silt from the lake.
The official added that in the coming months, they plan to install retention basins along major streams to stop future silt and waste from entering the lake.
“It belongs to the people, and they have every right to it,” he said. “But the department has worked consistently with specialists and taken steps over the years to make sure lotus stem cultivation becomes possible again in Wular. Now, it’s no longer just an idea; production is happening on the ground.”
Speaking about licensing, he said that earlier, only fishermen and those gathering chestnuts were given permission to operate in the lake. “With the return of nadru, we will now review how to move forward, whether to introduce a permit system for harvesters or keep it accessible to everyone,” he said.
Zahoor Ahmad, a resident of Laharwalpora, said local families had tried to reintroduce the lotus on their own. “We threw seeds into the lake many times, but nothing grew,” he said. “It’s only now, after the silt was cleared, that we see the flowers again.”
Ahmad said the return of the lotus is not only a sign of ecological improvement but also a source of renewed economic activity for many households around the lake—(KNO)
