Dharamsala’s famous Dal Lake dries up again

The famous Dal Lake of Dharamsala has started drying up once again. Due to the loss of water in the lake, the fish in it is dying. Today morning, students of Tibetan Children Village (TCV) situated near the lake with the help of locals and environmentalists started a campaign to save the fish in the water body.

The volunteers dug up a pit near the lake, filled it with water and shifted the fish from the lake to it. This is the second time in the past few years that the Dal Lake has dried up to the extent that the fish is also dying.

The Dal Lake also holds religious significance for the local Gaddi community, which has expressed concern over it going dry.

The lake lost its water retention capacity after the Public Works Department (PWD) removed silt from its bed to increase its depth in 2011. Last year, the Jal Shakti Department had used bentonite, also called drillers mud, to plug the leakage on the floor of the lake. Sodium bentonite is used to seal leaking ponds. Moistened bentonite swells 11 to 15 times its original size, plugging spaces between soil particles as it expands. Because of a high cost, bentonite is used in spot applications on small leaks. It is applied at a rate of one to three pounds per square foot. The actual amount depends on the soil type and the severity of the problem.

After using bentonite, the Jal Shakti Department claimed that the problem of water leakage in the Dal Lake had been solved. However, the lake is once again drying up. This mid-altitude lake located at a distance of about 11 km from Dharamsala in Tota Rani village near Naddi is very small compared to the Dal Lake of Srinagar. However, it is a natural water body that is vital for the ecosystem of the surrounding hills. The lake, a natural water body located at a height of 1,775 metres from the sea level and surrounded by deodar trees, is a tourist attraction. The locals consider it as sacred as a Shiva temple is located on its banks.

However, persistent silting from adjoining hills has reduced the depth of the lake. About half of the lake area is filled with silt and converted into a grassland.

As per the revenue records, the area of the lake is about 1.22 hectares. However, due to silting, it has been reduced to half. The depth of the lake, which was about 10 feet, has reduced. The local administration had launched an operation in 2011 with the help of locals, who contributed in the form of labour and machinery, for resurrecting the lake. The silt taken out was used to create a parking near the temple area.

Since then, the lake dries up rapidly. The sources said that geologists were of the opinion that unscientific digging was likely to have created aqueducts at the base of the lake, leading to draining of water.

Lost water retention capacity in 2011

• The lake lost its water retention capacity after the Public Works Department removed silt from its bed to increase its depth in 2011
• Last year, the Jal Shakti Department had used bentonite, also called drillers mud, to plug leakage on the floor of the lake
• Students of Tibetan Children Village (TCV) with the help of locals and environmentalists started a campaign to save the fish in the lake
• The volunteers dug a pit near the lake which was filled with water and transferred the fish from drying up lake to the pit.