A CAG audit reveals a deepening ecological crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, where 315 of 697 lakes recorded in 1967 have disappeared.
203 lakes have shrunk, erasing thousands of hectares of water spread.
Weak coordination, poor planning and limited conservation focused on only six lakes have left most water bodies unprotected and biodiversity severely threatened.
Nearly half of Jammu and Kashmir’s lakes have disappeared over the past decades, according to a new audit by India’s Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
The report, which examined lake management between 2017-18 and 2021-22, found that out of 697 lakes recorded in 1967, 315 have vanished. These covered an area of 1,537.07 hectares.
Another 203 lakes have shrunk, losing a combined 1,314.19 hectares. In total, 518 lakes have seen their area reduced by 2,851.26 hectares.
The report says this decline has affected biodiversity, ecosystems and the range of services these lakes provide.
Of the lakes assessed, 150 saw some increase in area, while 29 remained unchanged.
The audit highlights that 63 lakes have already lost more than half of their water spread, placing them at high risk of disappearing altogether.
Most lakes fall under multiple departments, including forest, revenue and agriculture authorities. Of the 315 missing lakes, around three-quarters were under the jurisdiction of the revenue and agriculture departments, while the rest were managed by the forest department.
Among the shrinking lakes, oversight was divided across agencies including the principal chief conservator of forests, district administrations, the wildlife conservation department and the Lake Conservation and Management Authority.
Fragmented responsibility has contributed to weak monitoring and conservation, the report suggests.
Despite the scale of the problem, conservation efforts have focused on just six lakes: Dal, Wular, Hokersar, Manasbal, Surinsar and Mansar.
The audit found that no comprehensive plans were prepared for the remaining 691 lakes, and authorities did not identify sites eligible for central assistance under schemes run by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Between 2017 and 2022, only about 1 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s capital expenditure budget (Rs 560.65 crore) was allocated to the six lakes studied in detail.
Even in these cases, key scientific and management measures were either not carried out or only partially implemented. These include monitoring water-holding capacity, assessing biodiversity, controlling pollution, removing weeds and desilting, and raising public awareness.
The audit also found serious shortcomings in the management of major lakes.
In Dal Lake, land-use changes linked to delays in land acquisition, malfunctioning sewage treatment plants and poor monitoring have prevented restoration of open water areas. Programmes under national schemes such as the National Lake Conservation Programme and the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan were also found to be inadequately implemented.
At Wular Lake, the absence of a functional oversight body meant key policy decisions could not be taken. Without a comprehensive plan, financial support from the central government was not secured.
Hokersar Lake faced similar challenges. Annual plans failed to address core issues such as altered water flows, pollution and biodiversity loss. Lack of proper demarcation also led to encroachment on more than 2,500 kanal of land.
The report concludes that unchecked human activity, weak institutional coordination and the absence of a unified regulatory framework have driven widespread changes in land use. These, in turn, have severely damaged lake ecosystems across the region.