Srinagar: Cleaning of Dal Lake taken up by NGO to boost tourism

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 13 : A local NGO has taken the initiative to de-weed and clean the Dal Lake to give a boost to tourism.
As part of the effort, the weeds are being cut from the roots manually. This is to ensure they do not grow back for a longer time, and the lake stays clean.
Earlier, the government used the same technique to clean the lake. But the introduction of machines to de-weed the lake caused problems as it was not efficient. This led to weeding in larger areas, which degraded the beauty of Dal Lake.

Talking to ANI, Save Dal NGO Chairman Muhammad Maqbool said, "Earlier, tourists used to explore the inner parts of the lake, but now those channels are totally blocked because of Lily weeding. When it is removed, tourists would be able to explore further which will help increase tourism. Through manual cleaning, the lake will be clean and channels will open up."

Haji Abbas, a Dal dweller, said, "We are helping in the manual cleaning of Dal Lake in order to boost the businesses of Shikaras, vegetable and fish sellers."