Srinagar, July 25 -- Forty-year-old Shakeel Ahmad had never seen the natural spring near his house in Lar Ganderbal this pristine - until last year. For decades, it used to be littered with garbage and animals used to loiter around.

But all that changed once Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation (NLCO), an environment group working to revive Kashmir's dying springs and water bodies, came into the picture.

With slow and sustained efforts, the group managed to bring back to life at least 14 springs that had been lost to neglect, encroachment and urbanisation. Volunteers and, in some cases, the Srinagar municipal corporation (SMC) and Lakes Conservation Management Authority (LCMA), pitched in too.

"The water here is so clean now that we u...