By DAR YASIN and SIBI ARASU
Updated 9:10 PM EDT, June 29, 2026

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Every morning, long, narrow wooden boats called shikaras move elegantly across expansive Dal Lake in a postcard-perfect scene framed by the Himalayan mountains.

But all is not perfect in one of South Asia’s best-known lakes. Pollution from local buildings, invasive plant species that threaten biodiversity and declining water levels, in part due to climate-driven heat, are threatening the long-term existence of Dal Lake and hundreds of other lakes in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It takes constant effort by workers employed by the local government to keep Dal Lake’s weeds at bay, and they must take precautions to avoid skin irritation from the polluted water. Yet it could be worse for the lake, which is located in Kashmir’s most populous city, Srinagar. It’s one of the few lakes in the region to receive sustained restoration work.

“We are afraid to touch the water with bare hands. Whenever we need to clean something by hand, we wear gloves, because without them our hands quickly develop allergies,” Ghulam Rasool, a weed cleaner employed by the local government, said on a recent afternoon.

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