Kashmir, the land of sheer splendid beauty, is also home to rich flora and fauna components. Apart from its famous crunchy and juicy Kashmiri apples and staggering walnuts, that is driving livelihood of many cultivators, the region is also privy to under-water produces.
Nestled in Northern pocket of the Kashmir
valley is a freshwater Lake in Bandipora - Wular – that is a treasure
trove of water chestnuts or water caltrops. Fed by Jhelum River, Wular is
Asia’s largest freshwater body.
Water-chestnuts or water-caltrops being the
major produce of the area, covers a significant portion of Wular. The lake is
also home to a wide variety of fishes.
The heart-shaped fruit is scooped out from
picturesque floating plants that appear to be natural carpet of mosses covering
the length and breadths of the lake.
However, not everything is
flowery for chestnut cultivators. The fruit usually attains maturity around the
month of November—period of bone-chilling winter in
Kashmir— and needs to be harvested in tough weather conditions
before sending it to the markets.
“It’s indeed a painstaking
job, and we are bound to collect the water chestnuts to feed our
families,” says Ghulam Mohammad.
Water chestnut, that falls under the category of a fruit, yields paltry income for the locals who depend largely on them for their livelihoods
Every year Kashmir witnesses hard-hitting
periods of cold when the locals largely depend on dried vegetables, cereals
that they usually stock during summers.
Water-chestnuts, that can be
dried and used as ground flour, become a major replacement of cereals during
winters.
As the landscape in the Kashmir valley is changing at a rampant rate owning to the population expansion, the natural resources have suffered the biggest blow.
Development requirements and growing need for shelter have lead to thinning of paddy fields and orchards. Lakes are not spared either. Much of the lake has been drained as a result of willow plantations, illegal constructions on the lake shore since the 1950s.
“We are vehemently requesting the government to take measures to contain illegal encroachment near the lake which is not only a nature’s gift to us but also holds historical importance,” said Syed Zahoor, a student.