Rambiara at Risk

Narrowing the river with concrete and steel could turn predictable floods into catastrophic disasters for Shopian and Pulwama districts.

- Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat

I have walked along the Rambiara River at Trenz in Shopian more times than I can remember.

The river has always been a part of people's lives here, a companion to orchards, fields, and homes.

In summer, children play in its shallow waters. When the rains come, it rises and roars, a reminder that it gives life but cannot be controlled.

Two years ago, everything along its right bank began to change.

Poplar and willow trees, acacia, apple saplings, and vegetable plots were cleared. Families who had farmed the land for generations lost their connection to the soil.

Local Halqa Majlis, the panchayat that should have been consulted, was bypassed, and the community had no say in a decision that uprooted their livelihoods.

Now, an industrial estate is rising on the very land that once held those orchards and fields.

The J&K State Industrial Development Corporation, SIDCO, is building factories and commercial complexes on 500 kanals, just thirty meters from the river.

The estate sits directly on a floodplain, the natural runway the Rambiara has always used to carry high waters during the rains.