Govt commissions NIH study to assess Wular lake’s carrying capacity

Srinagar, Oct 30: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said that a comprehensive bathymetric-hydrodynamic study of Wular Lake is underway to determine its current water carrying capacity and the rate of siltation.
The study is being conducted by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, Minister In charge Jal Shakti Department, said in response to a query by MLA Irshad Rasool Kar.
According to the Forest Department, no prior baseline survey exists to accurately assess Wular’s carrying capacity or silt levels. The ongoing study will also validate critically silted areas and identify major feeding channels contributing to silt deposition, it said.
The government said that measurable progress has been made on the ground. “About 4.55 square kilometres of critically silted area, roughly 455 hectares, have been restored or de-silted so far. Of the total dredged volume, approximately 63.93 lakh cubic meters have been removed from the SK Payeen area, resulting in the restoration of nearly 3.10 square kilometres within the main lake,” it added.
Targeted de-siltation in the catchment and feeding channels has expanded the total restored footprint to around 4.5 square kilometres, the government said.
Cumulatively, around 78.25 lakh cubic meters of dredging have been completed, improving the lake’s hydraulic connectivity and overall water regime, it added.
Meanwhile, the government said the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department Kashmir has dredged about 2.85 lakh cubic metres of material from the Sopore-Baramulla Outfall Channel over the past two years to enhance the Jhelum River’s flow capacity. (KNO)