RESTRUCTURING THE DWINDLING PONDS OF JAMMU

FOR SUSTAINABLE USE

Dr. S.M. Zubair

The Himalayan Ecological and Conservation Research Foundation, J&K
43-16/B Mangotrian, Rajpura, Shakti Nagar, Jammu-180 006

Freshwater ecosystems constitute an important aquatic

resource that influences the local climate besides recharging the
ground water and caters to the recreational and domestic demands
of potable water for the people living in its vicinity. Of all the
freshwater ecosystems that support and sustain life, ponds form an
important aquatic set up which differ from the lakes in being small
(1m2 to 2 hectares, Biggs et al., 2005), shallow, with light
penetrating upto the bottom (depending upon the pollution or
presence of trees around the water body), shore line devoid of wave
action and rooted aquatic plants growing throughout its area. Ponds
provide a vast arena for recreational, domestic and agricultural
utility that range from fishing, swimming, and wildlife viewing to
water sources for humans and livestock, irrigation and erosion
control. Ponds irrespective of whether they are natural or man made
can be very beneficial to both people and wildlife. People benefit
from the recreational opportunities and agricultural uses, as well as
the added aesthetics of having a pond on their property. Ponds
benefit wildlife by providing feeding and nesting habitat, resting
areas and water sources. Ponds that are natural or constructed,
maintained, and managed with these uses in mind are a valuable
part of our natural resources. But the extravagant life style of modern man is
dictating terms to these opulent reservoirs of history by reluctantly contaminating
them with industrial wastes, domestic by products, municipal sewage, solid wastes,
third pollution etc – a fate that they never deserved. In fact ponds all across the globe
have been converted into efficient sinks for our day today wastes. Besides it,
encroachment on the part of these ecological systems has reduced them to mere
marshes, swamps or waste lands. As a matter of fact ponds recharge the ground water
aquifers owing to its standing water hence mismanagement of these ponds by
encroachment, dumping wastes, discharging animal and human excreta, detergents etc
means contamination of water or rendering it unsafe for drinking purposes.

The Sub Himalayan state Jammu and Kashmir is blessed with

a number of freshwater bodies of which lakes and rivers have so far
gained the attention of government, semi government and private
sectors but ponds which do contribute in stabilising the
microclimate of the area have remained neglected so far. And
consequently the ponds of the state in general and Jammu in
particular like Jakh Pond, Kunjwani Pond, Narwal Pond, Paloura Pond,
Janipura Pond, Bantalab Pond, Raipur Pond etc have suffered due to
anthropogenic influences like encroachment, influx of detergents,
soaps, human faecal matter, animal excreta, third pollution etc to
the extent of emitting foul smell. The emission of foul smell by the
water is an indicative of reduced dissolved oxygen content and
carbon dioxide build up. In a healthy pond normal oxygen content varies
between 5 ppm to 10 ppm which is used by fish and other organisms to accommodate
metabolism, they then excrete carbon dioxide, for use by plants and algae to
regenerate oxygen in the pond. Oxygen is the most important gas in the aquatic
environment and adequate DO levels are critical in maintaining a stable ecosystem.
But in case of declining oxygen content, the indwelling biota suffers heavy mortality
which in turn divulges a reduction in oxygen concentration. Low DO levels can lead
to reduced microbial growth and minimal aerobic digestion of nutrients.

In fact certain ponds like Kunjwani pond have been lost to

oblivion as it is nothing more than a marsh catering to the demands
of cattle and aquatic birds while emitting foul smell. Similar fate has
met the Paloura Pond that is a dumping yard for the animal excreta
and fertilizers which drain into the pond from the agricultural fields
in its vicinity. Being rich in nutrients, the pond is dominated by
macrophytes, besides run off from the roads and human
settlements have also aggravated the situation. The Jakh Pond along
the National Highway No. 1A like Narwal, Janipura, Bantalab and
Raipur Ponds are also receiving filth, refuse, sewage, detergents,
cattle dung, faecal matter and waste water from the surroundings
and thus are gaining nutrient content which has casted its influence
on the water. In all of these ponds, water is green in colour and that
is perhaps due to aquatic plants and green algae which require
nutrients to bloom and grow in numbers. There is a direct
correlation between amount of available nutrients and the
population of algae and macrophytes/aquatic plants. Besides the
anthropogenic interferences, ponds receive substantial amount of nutrients
from dead vegetation, landscape debris, runoff from the area surrounding the pond,
and waterfowl. As aquatic vegetation grows and dyes, it sinks to the pond bottom,
adding to the nutrient level for future aquatic growth. Additionally, landscape activity
can be a substantial factor in the amount of decaying vegetation. Lack of control over
these factors might inexorably lead to eutrophic state of the water body. As a matter
of fact, ponds are also subjected to encroachments like any other wetland by infilling
these aquatic resources with sediments which reduces their water storage capacity.
From a practical perspective, an irrigation pond with one acre of surface area can lose
water storage capacity by 80,000 gallons per year by the loss of volume caused from
sediment build up. Naturally-occurring bacteria are present in all ponds, but not in
large enough numbers to combat the sedimentation and extra nutrients
available. Supplemental microbes will reduce this sedimentation by digesting the
organic components which can exceed 90% of the biomass. The remaining inorganic
materials, like sand or clay, will remain on the bottom as a component of your healthy
ecosystem. This remaining bottom sediment, called the benthic layer, will provide an
anaerobic zone, which is important to the denitrification process.

If the situation remains as such, the day is not far off when
other ponds would also meet their doom. Although great many
workers have worked on their physico-chemical parameters and bio-
geochemical cycles but none has so far extended serious efforts in
restoring or even restructuring them. The said view point gains
reinforcement from the fact that government sector is well
saturated and hence does not approve the inclination of the youth
towards the government sector. Pond management in this context
will go a long way in generating employment for the unemployed
youth in particular and improving upon the economy of the state in
general by using them as fish breeding and culturing sites.

In this context, it is proposed that ponds like Kunjwani pond

which was once a source of attraction for the people could be
restored provided government and corporate officials pay well
deserved attention to its sufferings. Besides other ponds like Jakh,
Narwal, Paloura, Janipura, Bantalab & Raipur which do exist by
name are nothing more than sinks for the domestic and municipal
wastes and hence call for the attention of the people for their
restoration and conservation thereof. On the pretext of the above
mentioned abuses and insults afflicted by man on these valuable
reservoirs of life, it is proposed that these ponds need to be
restructured with completely new and more applicable engineering
principles so that these heritage sites are preserved and conserved
for the posterity.