Wullar Lake faces severe ecological collapse driven by electric fishing, pollution, and microbial outbreaks. Fisherfolk demand urgent enforcement, scientific investigation, and community-led restoration to protect livelihoods and restore the wetland.
Once celebrated as Asia’s largest freshwater lake and a vital Ramsar site, Wullar Lake is now slipping into a state of ecological collapse. Recent assessments by the Nature Conservancy Alliance (NCA) and the Wullar Fisherfolk Union have recorded alarming levels of fish mortality across several parts of the lake. The deaths are being linked to a lethal mix of illegal electric fishing, toxic chemical inflows, and microbial outbreaks that have together destabilised one of Kashmir’s most important aquatic ecosystems.
The report, based on field data, observations, and testimonies from local fisherfolk, calls for immediate toxicological and microbiological investigations, strict enforcement against illegal fishing, and community-led restoration efforts to save Wullar Lake. As a Ramsar-designated wetland of international importance since 1990, Wullar’s degradation is not just a local crisis but a global ecological concern.
Located in the Bandipora district of northern Kashmir, Wullar Lake covers an area that fluctuates between 125 and 189 square kilometres depending on the season. It serves as a natural flood basin for the River Jhelum, supporting thousands of people who depend on it for fishing, aquatic vegetation, and tourism. Over 11,000 fisherfolk and wetland-dependent families rely on its bounty. Yet years of sedimentation, encroachment, pollution, and weak governance have eroded the lake’s ability to sustain itself. The recent mass fish die-offs now point to an ecosystem that may have crossed its natural threshold of recovery.
Field teams from the NCA and local fisher associations reported the first wave of fish deaths in late October 2025, concentrated around Zurimanz, Banyari, and Watlab. Thousands of dead fish, mainly Schizothorax, Cyprinus carpio, and Gambusia affinis, were found floating or washed ashore. According to Ghulam Hassan Bhat, President of the Fisherfolks Association Wullar, “The pattern of fish deaths shows clear signs of electric shock and chemical burns. Fish are dying with internal haemorrhage, and many are covered in fungal layers. This is not natural mortality, it is systematic destruction enabled by negligence and corruption.”
Preliminary water analyses revealed a sharp increase in conductivity and biological oxygen demand (BOD), indicators of nutrient overload and organic decay. Dissolved oxygen levels, which typically remain above 6 mg/L, had dropped to below 2 mg/L in several areas — conditions lethal to most fish species.
Illegal electric fishing has emerged as a major driver of this crisis. The practice involves sending high-voltage current through the water to stun or kill fish instantly. While effective in catching fish, it also destroys eggs, juveniles, and benthic organisms essential to the lake’s ecological balance. The surviving fish often suffer internal organ rupture, gill damage, and immune suppression. Compounding the problem is the unchecked flow of detergents, pesticides, and other chemical waste from nearby settlements, poultry farms, and households into the lake.
Dr Zahid Parvaz, Co-convenor, Nature Conservancy Alliance, warned, “The combination of electric shocks and toxic runoffs has turned Wullar into a death zone for aquatic life. We are witnessing a collapse not only of fish populations but of the entire aquatic food web — zooplankton, molluscs, and benthic worms that sustain lake productivity.”
Post-mortem examinations and field microscopy have revealed a secondary wave of infections triggered by opportunistic pathogens. Fungal species such as Saprolegnia parasitica and Achlya americana are causing cotton-wool-like lesions on fish skin and gills, while bacteria like Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens have been identified as agents of haemorrhagic septicaemia and ulcerative disease. Algal blooms dominated by Chlorella vulgaris and Euglena sanguinea further indicate a eutrophic state that rapidly depletes dissolved oxygen.
The decomposition of dead fish is adding more organic material to the water, fuelling a vicious cycle of eutrophication and microbial proliferation. This process, known to limnologists as “biological choking,” suffocates aerobic life and pushes the ecosystem towards complete collapse.
The findings from Wullar Lake serve as a stark warning of what unregulated exploitation, pollution, and neglect can do to a vital freshwater ecosystem. Without urgent policy intervention and local community participation, one of Asia’s most significant lakes could soon become a silent expanse of dying waters.
For the fisherfolk of Wullar, the ecological crisis has become a fight for survival. Over the past five years, fish catches have fallen by nearly 70 per cent, and the recent waves of mass fish die-offs threaten to wipe out their livelihoods entirely. What was once a thriving source of food and income has turned into a symbol of despair.
“Every dead fish floating on the lake is a meal lost for our families,” said Nasir Dar, a fisher leader from Wullar. “Our children’s education, health, and survival depend on these waters. We are ready to cooperate in protecting the lake, but the administration must act firmly against the electric fishing mafia.”
Echoing his concern, Farooq Ahmad Dar, General Secretary of the Fisherfolk Association Wullar, said the community has long been calling for intervention. “We have repeatedly warned authorities, filed complaints, and sought action. Instead of stopping the culprits, some officials protect them. If this continues, both the fish and the fishermen will disappear from Wullar,” he warned.
Under India’s obligations to the Ramsar Convention, every member nation must maintain the ecological character of its listed wetlands. Wullar Lake, designated as Ramsar Site No. 461, carries a binding commitment for India to safeguard its biodiversity and hydrology from degradation. Yet the current state of the lake reveals a serious breach of these responsibilities. Weak coordination among the Fisheries Department, the Wullar Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA), and the Pollution Control Board has created an administrative vacuum that allows destructive practices to persist unchecked.
“Ramsar listing is not a decorative title; it is a binding ecological commitment,” said Zahid Parvaz. “India must either restore Wullar’s health or risk global censure for failing to uphold its wetland conservation responsibilities.”
The crisis at Wullar reflects a much wider pattern across India’s inland waters, where pollution, damming, and illegal practices are steadily eroding aquatic ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. “Wullar’s fisherfolk are part of a national community of small-scale fishers who sustain the country’s inland fisheries,” said Pradeep Chatterjee, Senior Representative of the National Federation of Small-Scale Fish Workers (NFSSFW). “The government must treat them as partners in wetland management, not as voiceless victims. A national task force should be formed to tackle toxic fishing and to secure community rights over water bodies.”
The NFSSFW and its allied networks have pledged technical and legal support to Wullar’s fishers as they press for accountability, restoration, and the revival of their fragile ecosystem.
The Nature Conservancy Alliance (NCA) and the Wullar Fisherfolk Union have issued an urgent call for decisive policy action to halt the ecological collapse of Wullar Lake and restore its aquatic health. Their recommendations outline a comprehensive strategy combining enforcement, science, community participation, and livelihood security.
a. They urge an immediate ban and strict crackdown on electric fishing, proposing that enforcement teams from the Fisheries Department, Police, and WUCMA jointly confiscate illegal electric gear and initiate prosecutions under Section 25 of the Indian Fisheries Act, 1897.
b. To understand the extent of pollution, they call for independent toxicological and microbiological testing of Wullar’s waters for heavy metals, pesticide residues, and pathogens. The involvement of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) and the Wetland Research Centre is seen as essential for ensuring transparency and scientific credibility.
c. Community participation forms a key pillar of their plan. The groups recommend setting up community-based monitoring cells where fisherfolk can be trained to assess water quality using basic testing kits for pH, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity. These cells would also draw on traditional ecological knowledge about fish behaviour and breeding patterns to inform management decisions.
d. Ecological restoration, they emphasise, must focus on reviving native aquatic vegetation such as Trapa natans and Nymphaea nouchali, which naturally filter pollutants and nurture fish nurseries. Clearing encroachments from inflow channels like Naaz Nallah and Madhumati stream is also critical to restoring natural water circulation.
e. The fisherfolk demand inclusion in governance structures, with official recognition of their cooperatives under community-based wetland management models consistent with the Ramsar Convention’s “Wise Use” principle. They seek representation in WUCMA’s decision-making committees to ensure that policies reflect ground realities.
f. Effective waste management is another urgent need. The recommendations call for decentralised wastewater treatment units in nearby settlements and a complete ban on the discharge of untreated poultry and dairy effluents into lake channels.
g. Alongside environmental measures, the NCA and Wullar Fisherfolk Union stress the importance of livelihood security. They propose compensatory schemes during lean fishing months and the inclusion of fisher families under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana and MGNREGA-linked wetland restoration programmes.
“The ecological collapse in Wullar Lake is both a scientific warning and a moral indictment of institutional neglect,” the statement notes. For thousands of marginalised families who depend on the lake, the crisis has turned environmental degradation into daily human suffering.
As Ghulam Hassan Bhat, representing the fisherfolk, summed up, “We don’t need sympathy; we need accountability. Let Wullar breathe again, and our lives will recover on their own.”
The message from the Wullar Fisherfolk Union is unequivocal: saving Wullar Lake requires science-led restoration, firm policy enforcement, and vigilant citizen action. Protecting this Ramsar site is not just about preserving a wetland — it is about defending ecological rights, livelihoods, and the dignity of those who live by its waters.
Join the Wullar Fisherfolk Campaign – Save Wullar, Save Aquatic Life.
First published by Kashmir Lake on November 18 2025.
Contact the author.