Defacing the Warwan Valley
Recently I got a chance to visit Warwan valley in Marwah sub division of Kishtwar district. This beautiful sub Himalayan valley is part of Jammu division, but has road connectivity from Anantnag district of Kashmir valley via Kokernag, Vailoo, Matigawran and Margan top. There are around 14 villages in Warwan which are inhabited by ethnic Kashmiris. It is said that people started inhabiting this valley around 200 years ago but there are sources which say that people had been living in Warwan before 200 years as well. I, along with some friends were hosted by a local trekking guide, teacher and environmental campaigner Muzaffar Rather.
The population of Warwan valley is approximately 14000 as per local sources and this was around 9000 as per 2011 census. The area was granted tehsil status some years back and falls under Inderwal assembly segment of Kishtwar. There are around 7000 registered voters in Warwan. This valley is 68 kilometers from Kishtwar but there is no direct road connectivity. Marusudar river flows through this beautiful valley and this is also known as the Warwan river in the upper reaches of the valley. This river is formed by the confluence of the two streams known as Batkot and Gumbar and is the biggest right tributary of the river Chenab.
People in Warwan Valley are still deprived of basic amenities like better healthcare, sanitation, electricity, internet connectivity etc. These things clearly depict the mis-governance and lack of political will to address these basic problems. In spite of the fact that this valley has huge potential for adventure tourism, eco tourism, cultural tourism, cultivation of medicinal plants and setting up of small hydropower projects for local consumption, the authorities seem to have deliberately neglected this area?
The benefits of many Govt schemes have not reached the people of Warwan valley. Many locals whom I met told me that they were even unaware of national flagship schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), PM Kisan Samman Nidhi etc. People have not been benefited by the schemes like Digital India Programme and safeguarding of the local cultural traditions for which lots of funds are available with the Ministry of Culture under the scheme called “Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India”.
Traditional houses demolished ?
It was heart wrenching to see traditional houses of Warwan valley being demolished and new concrete structures coming up. The local SDM, Teshildar, BDO or Forest Officers could have persuaded people to protect their heritage but it seems they lack capacity to ponder over the drastic concretisation of Warwan.
In the future when Warwan valley would be projected on a tourism map, the visiting tourists would miss these traditional structures, especially the foreign tourists. There are some incredible houses and mosques in Warwan which look so beautiful. These are wood and mud structures and foreigners would come only to see them. But there is no authority which can mobilize the locals to conserve them? Govt needs to incentivise these conservation works and a conservation authority under Department of Culture needs to be set up for Marwah, Dacchan and Warwan valley together. In fact I had a meeting with Principal Secretary Culture J&K Govt Mr B M Sharma on this issue and very soon I would submit my written suggestions to him.
Unscientific waste disposal
Unscientific waste disposal is also a big challenge in Warwan valley. If authorities like SDM Marwah, local BDO and Tehsildar of Warwan don’t take this issue seriously, Warwan would be a trash valley after 5 to 10 years of time. The plastic waste has already started polluting virgin destinations like Margan top and locals from Srinagar, Anantnag and other districts who visit Warwan bring a lot of trash with them and throw it here and there. In addition to it the local shopkeepers are also getting a lot of plastic packaged food items to Warwan to be sold in grocery shops in Mool Warwan, Inshan, Mingli , Afti and adjoining villages. I tried a lot to mobilize some shopkeepers to stop bringing this trash to Warwan, but they seemed to be unaware of what will happen to their beautiful valley in the coming years.
The local authorities like SDM, Tehsildar or BDO could have imposed a blanket ban on sale and use of such products in Warwan valley but this needs passion and vision. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission -SBM Gramin guidelines citizens are provided Rs 5500 for making compost units within house premises to process biodegradable waste – food waste / kitchen waste and for liquid waste Rs 11300 is provided to make soakage pits. Have these compost and soakage pits been constructed in Warwan? I visited some 5 to 6 villages but I didn’t see even a single such compost pit or soakage pit. People in these villages heard this name for the first time ?
Denial of Grazing Rights
During my visit I met a few Chopan families in Warwan. Chopans are ethnic Kashmiri shepherds similar to landless farm labourers as they usually own no livestock and only take care of sheep belonging to local farmers. After Article 370 abrogation Chopans were hopeful that they would get the grazing rights on pasturelands under the Forest Rights Act, but that hasn’t happened in Warwan especially. Some locals have encroached upon these grazing lands and they lease it to different grazers like Bakarwals and take money from them. This activity has been happening in many parts of Kashmir as well, and I have already written extensively on this & took up the issue with PCCF Mr Gupta as well.
Conclusion
In the past 20-30 years several tourism development authorities were set up across J&K. I think for virgin destinations like Warwan, Marwah, Dacchan, Paddar or Gurez, the Govt needs to set up Conservation Authorities as the situation is not good in these places. We have lost everything in J&K, but at least can we save these virgin places? If the Govt doesn’t wake up, Warwan would be another trash bowl of J&K with ugly concrete structures around in coming 5 to 6 years. In addition of taking up the issue with J&K’s Principal Secretary Culture, I am in touch with India’s noted Design X University -Anant National University Ahmedabad and some Conservational Architects as well. I am hopeful to give some proposal to J&K Govt soon.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder / Chairman Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement
