Nallah Mar

Nallah Mar or Mar Canal (also known as Mar Kol) was a navigational canal running through the old city of Srinagar in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It connected the Brari Nambal lagoon to the Khushal Sar lake and thus provided navigability between the Dal and Aanchar lakes. It was filled up and converted to a road in the 1970s.

Nallah Mar
Nallah Mar Canal in Srinagar, India
Nallah Mar highlighted in red
Location	Srinagar, J&K, India
Specifications
Status	Landfilled and replaced by the Nallah Mar Road
History
Date of first use	c. 15th century
Date closed	1970s
Geography
Start point	Brari Nambal
End point	Khushal Sar
Connects to	Khushal Sar

History

The canal was built during the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (popularly known in Kashmir as 'Budshah'). It was considered as a lifeline of the city even up to the early part of the 20th century. However, with the arrival of motor transport, it gradually lost its sheen. As such, it was filled up to pave way for a road through the old city. The filling up of the canal is considered an ecological disaster as it led to the choking up of Brari Nambal and in turn affected the entire water system of the city.

Maps

• 
  1887
• 
  1911

Further reading

• Wani, Arif Shafi (14 March 2015). "Filling of Mar Canal a blunder". Greater Kashmir.
• "Budshah's Nallai Mar". Kashmir Life. 13 April 2017.
• Naqash, Rayan (7 August 2017). "Gently down the Jhelum: Is water transport in Kashmir a practical option?". Scroll.in.
• Qayoom, Sheikh (21 September 2014). "Jammu and Kashmir floods: Is nature saying "back off"?". The News Minute. IANS.
• "How Human Greed Robbed Kashmir". Kashmir Observer. 27 April 2016.
• Draboo, Anisa (15 September 2014). "Man vs nature: Srinagar's flood misery has been heightened by bad planning". The Times of India.
• Punjabi, Riyaz (5 February 2020). "Remembering Nallah Mar: Lost Artery of the Dal Lake". Kashmir Trends.