Developing a Sustainable Urban Restoration Framework for Mitigating Water Pollution in Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Dal Lake, formerly a vast open lake, presently retains less than half of its original water surface, following 100 years of diminishing (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, 2003; LAWDA, 2022; Lone et al., 2016). Heavy nutrients (Pandit & Yousuf, 1988; Vollenweider, 1976; UNEP, 2003) have pushed it into a clogged state called hypereutrophic. According to LAWDA (2022), there are nearly 1,000 houseboats that let out 1.5 to 2.0 lakh litres of untreated waste every day. That trash accounts for nearly one-third of the phosphorus that is polluting the lake (LAWDA, 2022; UNEP, 2003). Near clusters of moored boats, oxygen levels drop dramatically, with BOD reaching 150 to 300 mg/L, even though clean effluent should be below 30 (LAWDA, 2022; WHO, 2017). Thick invasions of Trapa natans and Azolla flourish at places where nutrients accumulate (Bhat et al. 2001; Reshi et al. 2005; Zutshi & Tickoo 1990). These weeds block off light, impede boat movement and wipe out places where fish reproduce (Pandit & Yousuf 1988; Reshi et al. 2005). LAWDA as an institution was started in 1997 (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, 1997). Since 2003, no new floating buildings were permitted on the lake (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, 2003). The number of houseboats was capped at 1200 by rules revised in 2018 and again in 2023 (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, LAWDA, 2018, revised 2023). Now changes mean working within what is there, adding at most a fifth more floorspace, all while following strict eco-rules (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, LAWDA, 2018, revised 2023). Houseboats are transforming from a nuisance to flexible elements of neighbourhood life and may operate much better in natural environments (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, LAWDA, 2018, updated 2023; IISD, 2012). The introduction of sliding factory built fibreglass waste tanks into place, strengthening frames without changing outer shapes, have alone been enough to nearly halve harm to surroundings, staying fully within legal bounds (Government of Jammu & Kashmir, LAWDA, 2018, revised 2023; Kibert, 2016). Almost two thousand of them get safer structures, cleaner bathrooms, improved wiring and greater defences against fires (Government of India, 2016; Bureau of Indian Standards, 2011, 2016). Such targeted updates may gradually raise both lake health and everyday comfort levels, when delivered across even a portion of the floating cluster (IISD, 2012; Kibert, 2016).