When the Air in Kashmir Turned Dark

A week of alarming pollution readings forced me to rethink how unsafe our valley has become. Kashmir needs an active and empowered Pollution Control Committee that responds with urgency and protects what little clean air we still have.

- Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

I have spent years speaking about waste, water, mining and the slow poisoning of our rivers. But I never thought I would wake up one day and worry more about the air in Kashmir.

I live with the idea that our land is under stress, though the numbers I saw this past week forced me to sit down and breathe a little slower.

A friend from Budgam called me with data that felt unreal: the Air Quality Index touched 426 near the DC office on a cold Saturday morning.

Another message told me that Khawaja Bagh in Baramulla touched 450 the next day. Srinagar had been hovering between 160 and 175.

This is our home, a place people discuss as a valley of clean winds and open sky, and the monitors now say we are breathing hazardous air.

I kept thinking of the Supreme Court order from August 2025.

For the first time, every Pollution Control Board in the country, and Pollution Control Committees in Union Territories, can impose environmental compensation on polluting bodies.

The apex court made it clear that they can seek fixed sums or bank guarantees when there is actual damage or a clear threat of it.