Dal lake is situated in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the northern-most state of India, strategically surrounded by four countries, on the East by Tibet, on the North-East by China, on the North by Afghanistan and on the West by Pakistan. Dal Lake is a Himalayan Urban Lake, located in the heart of Srinagar (Latitude 34o 18’N Longitude 74o 91’E) at an average altitude of 1,583 M.
Dal Lake is a large shallow urban, hyper eutrophic lake situated within Srinagar City, India. The lake is known as a tourist attraction and it also provides drinking water, fish and vegetables, – and recreational opportunities to the local population.
The lake is divided into three basins
(1) Hazratbal (northern basin), (2) Bod-Dal (southern basin), and (3) Nigeen (western basin). Large areas of the lake are covered by floating gardens, which are land masses used for vegetable cultivation. The lake is having an area of about 25 km2, which is comprised of open water area, floating garden, built-up land masses with human settlements, houseboat areas etc. Land Uses of the Lake | | | | Area in Km2 | 3. | Cultivated | 2.29 | 6. | Park /Lawn | 0.03 | 8. | Residential | 0.66 | 9. | Roads /Paths | 0.07 | 11. | Tourist Infrastructure | 0.01 | 12. | Vacant Land with or without vegetation | 0.37 | 13. | Waterbody with Houseboats | 0.15 | 14. | Waterbody with Rads /Flotating Gardens | 0.35 | 15. | Waterbody with submerged vegetation | 15.41 | 16. | Waterbody with floating /emergent vegetation | 5.26 | | Total | 24.60 | The lake is having a total catchment area of 337 km2, out of which Telbal-Dachigham is largest catchment (234 km2), which is further divided into the Telbal-Dara (89 km2) and Dachigham National Wildlife Reserve (141 km2) sub-catchments. While most of the Dachigham National Wildlife Reserve is drained primarily by Dachigham Creek (perennial flows), which splits into smaller streams in its lower reaches: (1) Telbal