The lock down in wake of Coronavirus has hit one and all across globe. But in certain situations the consequences of this pandemic is fruitful. People sitting idle at home are devising new ways and means to kill time and in some cases people are wasting their time and energy to get constructive results.
The Coronavirus scare has left hundreds of Dal dwellers idle. To utilize their time in a constructive way, Dal dwellers have revived their traditional agricultural practices in both ‘Lokut’ and ‘Bod’ Dal.
Over 1200 to 2000 people can be seen extracting weeds manually from the Dal Lake every morning. “Over 2500 tons of weeds are being extracted on daily basis from the Dal. These weeds are being taken to floating gardens and used as fertilizers. Dal dwellers used to extract weeds manually some three four decades ago. But the LAWDA that started using machines for de-weeding purposes discouraged these people as a result manual de-weeding came to an end,” Muhammad Maqbool said .
He said that dal dwellers who are extracting weeds manually from the Dal are not charging anything from the LAWDA. “The Coronaviurs outbreak forced these people to revive manual de-weeding which they used to do for the production of vegetables some 4 decades ago. It has two benefits, one, they extract weeds from Dal and clean the lake and another these weeds are being used as fertilizers. Once LAWDA realized that de-weeding through machines is a futile exercise, it tried to persuade dal dwellers for manual weeding, which they were refusing. But Coronavirus made it possible.”
LAWDA spends Rs 6 crore annually over de-weeding process through machines. Even LAWDA accepts that only manual de-weeding can help in preservation and cleaning of Dal Lake.
“Whatever, one thing we have to accept that Coronavirus pandemic is turning a blessing out of disguise for the Dal Lake as it is being de-weeded and cleaned on daily basis,” Rafiq Ahmed said.