Srinagar, Apr 07: Nearly half of Jammu and Kashmir’s lakes have disappeared over the past five decades, a new audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has revealed, flagging an alarming ecological crisis driven by neglect, encroachment and weak institutional coordination across departments.
The report states that of the 697 lakes recorded in 1967, as many as 315 have vanished, resulting in the loss of over 1,537 hectares of water spread. A further 203 lakes have shrunk significantly, erasing an additional 1,314 hectares, taking the total number of degraded lakes to 518 with a cumulative loss of nearly 2,851 hectares. The decline, the audit notes, has severely impacted biodiversity, ecosystems and the critical services these water bodies provide.
The findings also highlight that 63 lakes have already lost more than half of their original area, placing them at high risk of disappearing entirely if immediate corrective measures are not taken. The audit attributes the deterioration largely to fragmented governance, with lakes falling under multiple departments including forest, revenue and agriculture, resulting in poor monitoring and lack of accountability. Of the lakes that have disappeared, nearly three-quarters were under the jurisdiction of revenue and agriculture departments, while the rest were managed by forest authorities.
Despite the widespread degradation, conservation efforts have remained limited and narrowly focused. The audit points out that only six lakes, including Dal Lake, Wular Lake, Hokersar Lake, Manasbal Lake, Surinsar Lake and Mansar Lake, have received attention, while the remaining 691 lakes were left without comprehensive conservation plans. Authorities also failed to identify lakes eligible for central assistance under schemes of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Between 2017 and 2022, only about one per cent of the Union Territory’s capital expenditure amounting to ₹560.65 crore was allocated to these six lakes.
Even in cases where conservation initiatives were undertaken, the audit found that essential scientific and management interventions such as monitoring water-holding capacity, biodiversity assessments, pollution control, desilting and weed removal were either partially implemented or not carried out at all. The report also highlights serious gaps in the management of major lakes. At Dal Lake, delays in land acquisition, malfunctioning sewage treatment plants and weak monitoring have hindered restoration of open water areas. Programmes under national schemes such as the National Lake Conservation Programme and the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan were found to be inadequately executed.
At Wular Lake, the absence of a functional oversight body stalled key policy decisions and prevented access to central financial support. Hokersar Lake, meanwhile, continues to face challenges arising from altered water flows, pollution and biodiversity loss, with encroachment on more than 2,500 kanal of land attributed to lack of proper demarcation.
The audit concludes that unchecked human activity, poor planning and the absence of a unified regulatory framework have led to widespread land use changes, severely damaging lake ecosystems across Jammu and Kashmir and raising urgent concerns over long term environmental sustainability in the region.
Half of J&K’s Lakes lost since 1967, CAG warns of escalating ecological crisis
