Srinagar: Nadroo (lotus roots), a cherished delicacy in Kashmiri cuisine, has almost vanished from its two important habitats, the Dal and Wular lakes, say lake ecologists and dwellers.
It seems the devastating floods of 2014 have caused some troublesome imbalance in the ecology of the two prominent lakes of Kashmir, the Dal and Wular, said Dr Sami Ullah Bhat, Sr Asst Professor Environment Sciences, University of Kashmir.
This upsetting of the lake ecosystems has led to the vanishing of lotus plants, the roots of which are an inseparable part of the Kashmiri cookery, he said, adding “the untoward feature is a baffling phenomenon even for the researchers.”
Bhat, the lake ecologist and limnologist said “this year in June our teams went to Dal and Wular for conducting research on the pests affecting nadroo, the hard porous stems of lotus. But we could hardly see any thriving lotus fields. We had to change our topic as there are no visible fields of nadroo in the two lakes.”
The nadroo available in the market is mostly from Manasbal Lake, or some wetlands of Jammu, he said.
“The siltation caused by the floods had a major impact on the ecosystem of the Dal and Wular. But the exact reason for the disappearance of the nadroo is a mystery for us too.”
The naturally growing hard coarse root vegetable has been part of the Kashmiri cuisine for centuries. It has a remarkable nutritional value. It is rich in dietary fibre, vitamins C, B, E, potassium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese, and some carbohydrates.
Its disappearance has caused anxiety among the people associated with its extraction and trade.
Ashiq Ahmad Dar, a resident of Mir Behri area of the Dal, said that the production of nadroo has been drastically affected. Most of the nadroo areas have vanished which has affected our livelihood.
Nadroo roots propagate under water and the Dal-dwellers have proprietary rights over water areas of the lake.
Dar, the dal-dweller said “on an average, from one acre water area I used to harvest 1600 bundles to 3000 bundles of nadroo a year. This would fetch me Rs 80,000 to Rs 150,000. There was no input cost on its cultivation, except the expenses incurred on its extraction from under the water.”
There are no precise statistics about the area under nadroo and its production pre 2014. But large swathes of water that bore nadroo are now infested with different kinds of weeds, said Bilal Ahmad, a research scholar on wetlands from Bandipora, the location of Wular.
“The area of Wular adjacent to Kema village used to be full of nadroo. Since nobody had the hereditary rights over the waters of the wetland, the government used to invite tenders for sale of nadroo in the area. But post-2014 floods, Kema is devoid of any nadroo produce,” said Bilal.
The foliage of lotus plants remained submerged for a large period during the 2014 floods and it withered away. Photosynthesis could not happen and rhizoids of the plant could not function. This resulted in their decay under the water, said the scholar.
-In Ashtengoo, another village on the banks of Wular, nadroo has been lost completely, said Abdul Karim, a local resident.
The nadroo production here had however started dwindling since 2011, the villager said.
In Zurmanz, an area developed to attract tourists, the nadroo has disappeared since 2014. As many as 7000 to 8000 people have been affected by the vanishing of the root vegetable symbolising Kashmir’s distinct loveliness rooted in its culinary culture.
