Meet the Dutch woman who has been cleaning up Srinagar’s Dal Lake
While Dal Lake grapples with severe ecological degradation, 69-year-old Ellis Spaanderman consistently works to collect plastic waste from its waters
On a still May morning, as the mist rises gently from the waters of Dal Lake, a lone shikara glides across its soft surface. But unlike most tourists drawn by lake’s houseboats and picturesque setting, a lone Dutch woman steering a wooden boat is not here for leisure. Armed with a trash bag, the 69-year-old Ellis Hubertina Spaanderman wants to clean up Kashmir’s Dal Lake—one plastic bottle at a time.
“I fell in love with this place twenty years ago," Ellis says after collecting some trash including chips wrappers and plastic cold drink bottles thrown into the lake.
“The situation was difficult then—strikes, curfews, soldiers everywhere. But I saw the mountains, lakes, and amazing nature here. And I met Kashmiri people whose hospitality impressed me and their warmth is like nowhere else," she says.
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