“Venice of Asia” Canals Disappearing

Kashmiri vendors sell flowers and vegetables at an early morning market on Dal Lake. The livelihoods of people that live on the lake are at risk from pollution and declining water levels. Photograph by Ami Vitale, Getty Images

“You take a look at my flowers,” said a middle-aged Kashmiri man, pointing to the bright bouquets of gladiolas, carnations, and lilacs bursting from their clay pots on his shikara, a type of small boat. “My name is Marvelous.”

“He  was called Mr. Marvelous by his father, who was also a flower seller on Nigeen Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir (see map). Known for its many waterways, the region is often called the “Venice of Asia” and is home to a vibrant tourism-oriented community that lives on the lakes, many of them in houseboats. In 1958, two National Geographic magazine journalists, Brian Brake and Nigel Cameron, visited the fabled houseboats moored along the lake, where they met Mr. Marvelous—then a four-year-old clutching a marigold—and his father.

“At the time, the rugged disputed territory between India and Pakistan was just over a decade into its independence from Britain. “Business was good in those days,” Mr. Marvelous recalls. But between 1989 and 2002, bloody conflict over Kashmir’s status brought the steady stream of lake tourists to a standstill.

“Now, just as some tourists are trickling back to the region’s lakes, there’s a new enemy to contend with: Water pollution. Poor sanitation systems, shortsighted city planning, and the encroachment of thousands of people like Mr. Marvelous—who have literally turned the lake into land for their gardens and homes—are destroying the region’s waters, according to scientist Majeed Kak, of Srinagar’sIslamic University of Science and Technology.

“Dal Lake, for instance, has shrunk to less than half its original size in just 30 years, Kak said.

(Related: “‘Goddess’ Glacier Melting in War-Torn Kashmir.“)

“Kak has been studying the water chemistry of the two major lakes, Dal and Nigeen, over the past three decades. He says that if steps are not taken to curb the pollution, the lakes will literally shrivel up and disappear.”

read more: National Geographic