Srinagar, April 10 -- Srinagar- TheComptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG) has flagged significant spatio-temporal changes in land use and water cover ofDal Lake, reporting a steady shrinkage of its water body and pointing to serious lapses in conservation, sewage management and monitoring.

In its latest audit on conservation and management of lakes in Jammu and Kashmir for the year ended March 31, 2024, the CAG noted that the lake's water spread declinedfrom 15.40square kilometres in 2007 to 12.91 square kilometres in 2020, a drop of over 10 per cent in just 13 years.

The report attributed the loss of open water primarily to increasing human-induced pressures and changing land use patterns. While the water body shrank, there was ...