Highways in Bloom

Highways are reshaping the valley’s iconic saffron fields, changing both the look and the value of this treasured landscape.

- Tazeem ul Haq

Saffron fields that once stretched like golden carpets now jostle with roadside shops, towering billboards, and mismatched buildings.

Open skies and traditional architecture are swallowed by a chaotic patchwork that grabs attention in every direction, leaving travellers unsettled and changing the way the valley is seen and remembered.

Pampore’s saffron fields are part of a living system where culture, design, and ecology come together.

Jammu & Kashmir produces over 90% of India’s saffron, and the Pampore-Pulwama belt covers nearly 3,500 hectares.

In the past five years, roadside commercial construction in these areas has surged by 40 to 50%, fuelled by land speculation and limited oversight.

The saffron remains in the soil, but its visibility and prominence fade as unplanned structures rise along the highways.

Travellers encounter tin sheds beside unfinished concrete blocks, glass facades clashing with raw brick, and buildings that vary wildly in height and alignment.