When Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo returned to his hometown of Srinagar from Delhi in the early 2000s, he planned to spend a few quiet days on a houseboat on Nigeen Lake. Instead, he found plastic bags floating everywhere, dead animals in the water, and sections of the lake being filled in and fenced off for private use. "I was shocked," he said. That moment sparked a transformation from businessman to one of Kashmir's leading lake conservationists.
More than two decades later, Wangnoo has helped bring back lakes that many had given up on. Through the Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation (NLCO) and its program called Mission Ehsaas, he has mobilized residents, volunteers and government agencies to restore degraded water bodies across the Kashmir valley.
The stakes are high. Nearly half of all lakes recorded across Jammu and Kashmir in the 1960s — 315 out of 697 — have completely disappeared. Another 203 have shrunk. Experts link this to decades of pollution, illegal construction and rapid urban growth that has paved over wetlands and choked water bodies with waste.
For Wangnoo, the work is about more than cleaning up lakes. In Urdu and Kashmiri, Ehsaas means awareness or realization. He sees restoration as rebuilding the bond between people and nature, a bond he believes is essential to Kashmir's future.
"If our environment is healthy, tourism, horticulture and agriculture will flourish," Wangnoo said in an interview. "That is why I believe environmental protection should be the first priority of any government."
One of his group's major projects restored the Khushalsar-Gilsar wetland system, two connected lakes in central Srinagar. The same hands-on approach transformed Nigeen Lake from a polluted mess into a cleaner, healthier waterway. Today, Wangnoo is proud to challenge anyone to spot a single piece of plastic floating on Nigeen.
"That is the power of community participation," he said.
The lakes and wetlands of Kashmir sit in a valley cradled by mountains, fed by glaciers and streams. They support local farmers, provide drinking water and draw visitors from around the world. When these ecosystems suffer, so do the people who depend on them.
Wangnoo remains hopeful. He remembers a childhood when he could dive into Dal Lake with his eyes open and retrieve a coin thrown in. That world is not entirely gone, he believes, if communities keep working to protect what they have.