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Destination guide

Wular Lake: Kashmir’s great freshwater lake

Wular Lake in Bandipora and Baramulla: how big it is, Watlab and the Vantage Park, birds and the lotus’s return, restoration, and road times from Srinagar.

By Abbsar Bhat
Checked ·5 min read

Wular Lake lies between Bandipora and Sopore, north of Srinagar, and spreads across Bandipora and Baramulla districts. The Bandipora district administration calls it “one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia”, at 130 sq km, the area in revenue records, and the Ramsar Convention, which listed it as a wetland of international importance in 1990, describes it in its 1990 site record as “the largest freshwater lake in India”. From Srinagar it is an estimated 1¼–2 hours by road. The Wullar/Watlab spot was on the February 2026 list of places “to be reopened immediately”.

Wular Lake seen from a lakeside park with a pavilion, mountains beyond
Wular Lake seen from a lakeside park with a pavilion, mountains beyond. Photo: Mohit.vaishnav1, CC BY-SA 4.0
In this guide6 sections
  1. How big is Wular?
  2. What to see
  3. Birds and the lotus
  4. Restoring the lake
  5. Getting to Wular
  6. Wular Lake questions

At a glance

Districts
Bandipora and Baramulla
From Srinagar
1¼–2 h Go Kashmir app estimate, 23 Oct 2026
Size
130 sq km on record it varies with the season
Ramsar site
No. 461, since 23 March 1990
Status
Wullar/Watlab ordered reopened Feb 2026
Known for
Views, birds, the lotus and its edible stem, nadru

How big is Wular?

It depends on the season and the source. The Jhelum “enters the lake at Banyari in the south, and exits from Ningli Sopore in the west”, according to the Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA), which says the lake acts “as a huge absorption basin for flood waters”. Incredible India says the lake can range “from a more modest 30 square kilometers to an astonishing 260 square kilometers”. It has also shrunk over the past century: from 157.74 sq km in 1911 to 86.71 sq km in 2007, a 2018 study found, and in lean winter months it falls to about 24 sq km, as IndiaSpend reported.

Snow-capped mountains reflected in Wular Lake
Snow-capped mountains reflected in Wular Lake. Photo: Shiv’s fotografia, CC BY-SA 4.0

What to see

  1. Watlab

    Watlab is on the Sopore–Bandipora road, “about 56 km from Srinagar and 8 km from Sopore”, says JKTDC; Kashmir Life puts it almost 75 km from Srinagar. JKTDC mentions “a Forest Rest House amidst sprawling apple orchards” and the shrine of Baba Shukurddin, a Muslim mystic. Kashmir Life notes that boating and water sports have been introduced, and warns that “Watlab and Zurmanz become hazardous for boats during inclement weather”. “Wullar/ Watlab in Baramulla” was on the Lieutenant Governor’s February 2026 list of places “to be reopened immediately”, ETV Bharat reported.

  2. Wullar Vantage Park

    An eco-tourism park near the lake with “walking trails, picnic spots, seating areas, and landscaped gardens”, and “an excellent spot for birdwatching, especially for migratory species”, according to the Bandipora district site. It’s an estimated 1½–2 hours from Srinagar.

  3. Walkways and parks

    In April 2026 officials described a 2.5 km walkway at Banyari–S.K. Payeen, closed to motor traffic, with cycling tracks and viewing points, and a second phase due to start shortly, Daily Excelsior reported. Upgrades to Delta Park at Banyari and Gurura Park, and a new eco-park at Ningli, Sopore, were under way. WUCMA’s page lists more walkways and a cycle track at Watlab as planned.

Birds and the lotus

  • Birds: the lake “easily qualifies” as a site that “holds more than 20,000 waterfowl on a regular basis”, with 88 species recorded in and around it, according to its Key Biodiversity Area factsheet (assessed in 2004). Migratory ducks such as the northern shoveler, gadwall and common teal winter here. Wular was among 27 wetlands counted in the Asian Waterbird Census in early 2026, Kashmir Reader reported.
  • The lotus: “After nearly three decades, the lotus has bloomed once again in the Wular Lake,” PTI reported in July 2025, after silt from the 1992 floods had buried it; WUCMA had scattered lotus seeds, and the bloom covered nearly three sq km, according to The Tribune. Its edible stem, nadru, is harvested by diving neck-deep, and the bloom has “renewed hopes” of harvesting it again, PTI reported. Nadru, the lotus stem, is an everyday Kashmiri vegetable: see Kashmiri food.

Restoring the lake

Willows planted in the lake from 1961 to 2002 spread over about 27 sq km, IndiaSpend reported, and silt choked large areas. WUCMA has dredged silt and removed willows since its early years, switching to cutter-suction dredgers in 2019, IndiaSpend reported. By April 2026, 78.43 lakh cubic metres of silt had been dredged and around five sq km of silted area restored, Daily Excelsior reported. The same month Kashmir Reader reported a CAG audit, covering 1967 to 2020, that found the wetland “under severe stress due to encroachment and siltation”.

Getting to Wular

  • From Srinagar: an estimated 1¼–2 hours to the lake, and 1½–2 hours to the Vantage Park, according to the Go Kashmir app as of 23 October 2026.
  • By air: Srinagar airport is 74.5 km from the lake, according to the Bandipora district site.
  • When to go: Kashmir Life suggests June to August for Watlab. For the weather by month, see Kashmir weather month by month.

Wular Lake questions

Why is Wular Lake famous?

For its size, among the largest freshwater lakes in India and Asia, and as a Ramsar wetland important for migratory birds.

Is Wular Lake the largest freshwater lake in India?

The Ramsar Convention describes it as “the largest freshwater lake in India”; Indian sources call it one of the largest in Asia. Its area changes with the season.

Is Wular open to tourists?

It is not on the official closed list as on 7 July 2026, and the Wullar/Watlab spot was on the February 2026 reopening list.

How far is Wular from Srinagar?

An estimated 1¼–2 hours by road. JKTDC puts Watlab about 56 km from Srinagar; Kashmir Life says almost 75 km.

Sources

  1. Bandipora district administration, Wullar, Wullar Vantage Park and WUCMA, updated Sep–Oct 2025.
  2. Ramsar Sites Information Service, Wular Lake, site 461, site record of 1990. Read 23 Oct 2026.
  3. Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India: Wular Lake. Read 23 Oct 2026.
  4. JKTDC, Watlab. Read 23 Oct 2026.
  5. Kashmir Life, Watlab: an introduction, 8 Dec 2024.
  6. ETV Bharat, tourist destinations reopened, 16 Feb 2026.
  7. The Tribune (PTI), lotus beds reappear, 12 Jul 2025.
  8. Key Biodiversity Areas, Wular Lake factsheet.
  9. Kashmir Reader, Asian Waterbird Census 2026, 13 Feb 2026, and CAG flags concerns, 11 Apr 2026.
  10. IndiaSpend via Scroll, In Kashmir, one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes is blanketed with waste and silt, 15 Jun 2022.
  11. Daily Excelsior, Wular restoration, 11 Apr 2026.
  12. Go Kashmir app, estimated road times, 23 Oct 2026.
  13. Anantnag district administration, details of closed tourist destinations as on 07-07-2026 (PDF covering seven districts).

We write from published sources and do not claim personal visits. How we check facts.

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