Dal Lake much visited and less understood provides us with classic example of how little we appreciate the good things provided to us by Nature. Thousands of residents of Srinagar and millions of tourists are depandent upon the lake either for livelihood or for enjoyment. The lake of course is popular for its Houseboats ,Shikaras and promenades and it is undoubtedly a bird watchers paradise.

Slowly as the Shikara (low boats) passes through the channels in Srinagar the houseboats pass by which are handled by even the children with great dexterity, the kingfishers sit on the tops of houseboats nonchalantly almost within the touching distance of humans. The kingfishers apparently use walls, steps and piles as fixed perches from which they directly dive into water to catch little. There are open lotus flowers around which the bees are humming collecting honey. Wagtails active and eager can be seen dashing from leaf to leaf sometimes leaping into air to catch that elusive creature for its morsel. The dipping motion of their longtails and their undulating flight is fascinating to watch. The little grebe is fairly common in the vale.

The lake is in the foothill formations of the catchment of the Zabarwan mountain valley, a subsidiary of the Himalayan range, which surrounds it on three sides. It lies to the east and north of Srinagar city and is integral to the city. The catchment area drained by the basin is 316 square kilometres. The surface area of the lake is around 18 square kilometers. The average elevation of the lake is 1,583 metres (5,194 ft).