Kashmir's Environment Needs Political Will

Activists and NGOs cannot carry the burden alone. Strong laws, accountability, and leadership are essential to avert future calamities.

- Athar Parvaiz

This morning, I got a startling message from Dr. Raja Muzaffar, a well-known social and environmental activist.

He said that while Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Surinder Choudhary, had told the assembly in March that a private company, NKC Projects Pvt Ltd, was fined eight million rupees for illegal mining in the Shaliganga stream in Budgam, “[this] penalty money is yet to be recovered & the Mining Department officers told me that penalty amount was not Rs 80 Lakh but Rs 80,000 Only.”

As this seemed to me a classic case of greenwashing, I quickly called the director of Jammu & Kashmir’s Geology and Mining Department, Suraj Prakash Rukwal, to verify the claim and seek more details.

The call, however, went straight to a voice message that said, “your message has been forwarded.”

Repeated attempts to reach him brought no different result.

Hoping to get some clarity, I then called another official in the department. This time the call was answered, but the official politely told me he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Dr. Muzaffar also sent me an audio message on WhatsApp, his frustration unmistakable: “The environmental vandalism which warranted at least eight crore rupees (80 million) in compensation has been trivialized into a laughable fine of 80 thousand. And this paltry amount has also not been delivered yet.”