Srinagar, Jan. 11 -- Over the past five months as Kashmir slipped into a paralysis following nullification of Article 370, the state-turned union territory's environment has suffered no less. One of the hardest hit natural assets has been Dal lake, Kashmir's most famous water body, and magnate for tourists from far and wide.

As the daily cleaning of the lake by the concerned Lakes and Waterways Development Authority came to a halt during the ongoing strife, a thick and a growing coat of algae spread through a wide swathe of the waterbody and threatened to overwhelm it.

The algae, environmental experts say, had been largely controlled in recent years, thanks to a multi-crore rupees clean-up funded by the Government of India. And its resu...