India, April 7 -- A CAG audit reveals a deepening ecological crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, where 315 of 697 lakes recorded in 1967 have disappeared.

203 lakes have shrunk, erasing thousands of hectares of water spread.

Weak coordination, poor planning and limited conservation focused on only six lakes have left most water bodies unprotected and biodiversity severely threatened.

Nearly half of Jammu and Kashmir's lakes have disappeared over the past decades, according to a new audit by India's Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The report, which examined lake management between 2017-18 and 2021-22, found that out of 697 lakes recorded in 1967, 315 have vanished. These covered an area of 1,537.07 hectares.

Another 203 lakes...