Villagers come forward to restore water bodies in Kashmir

Until January, residents of Muniward village in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district had little idea that their initiative to clean water body in the area of filth and garbage will not only find many takers in their village but also spread across other parts of the region.

Earlier this month, the initiative to clean the Sandran stream — a major tributary of the Jhelum river running through their village — turned out to be a major success as locals say that around 80 per cent of the river banks have been cleaned.

“Sandran is a major tributary of the Jhelum. For many years, large amounts of waste had been accumulated at the river banks and it had become a dumping site. When I arrived from Delhi, I spoke to another local journalist and we discussed about this initiative,” Javed Dar, a photojournalist who hails from Muniward village, told ‘The Tribune’. He said the initiative received a great response from people and “as of today, around 80 per cent of the river banks had been cleaned”.

“We will soon complete the cleaning to 100 per cent to restore its beauty,” he said.

As the videos and pictures of the cleaning drive turned a buzz on social media, it has triggered a similar kind of drive in different villages across Kashmir.

He said people were sending him videos from different areas about the cleaning drives that they had initiated, adding that “it was important to safeguard their precious water resources for future generations".

People’s Democratic Party MLA Waheed Para, reacting to the Dar’s post about the initiative, said it was “a movement in the making”.

Peerzada Aafaq from Rah-e-Umeed Foundation, a north Kashmir-based NGO, said recently people in different village in the Valley were coming forward to restore and save their water bodies.

“We have been organising cleanliness’ drives. But, from since the last month, it seems that people have realised the importance of water bodies, especially during the dry weather conditions that led to the historic springs drying up,” he said. He added youth were coming forward in large numbers, which was a great development.

According to weather officials, Kashmir had experienced an 80 per cent precipitation deficit this winter. Historic natural spring at Achabal Mughal Garden in south Kashmir also dried up for the first time due to the prolonged dry weather.

Ghulam Nabi Bhat, former Sarpanch of Chijhama village in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, says after the recent long dry spell, people had realised the importance of these water bodies.

He said villagers, along with an NGO, had decided to clean the Viji Nullah, which passed through the village. “Around 1,500 feet of the area of the river bank has been cleaned,” he said, adding that people had become more aware now and they did not throw waste all around.

“There was a time when we used to drink from these streams. But, over the years, it got polluted,” he said.

Experts are welcoming the new trend. “People have realised the impact of climate change and the need to take steps for the conservation of water bodies,” said a Valley-based environmentalist. “Springs have borne the brunt of pollution so these cleaning drives at public level are the need of the hour.”