Environmental & Economic Disaster

Kakapora in district Pulwama is mere 20 kms away from Kunsoo village of Shopian & the Govt of India is planning to connect it through a 27 kms rail line? This is quite unjustifiable. This project is officially known as Awantipora-Shopian railway line & the Railways Ministry had approved Final Location Survey-FLS along with four other lines, all of which fall in Kashmir division. In December 2023 during the winter session of parliament Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw provided detailed information about this project. He was replying in the Lok Sabha in response to a joint question by BJP MPs including Jugal Kishore Sharma (Jammu-Poonch), Bidyut Baran Mahato (Jamshedpur) and Jamyang Tsering Namgyal (former MP of Ladakh).

Final Location Survey

As per the reply given by Union Railways Minister Final Location Survey-FLS of five lines has been sanctioned in Jammu and Kashmir. The lines include doubling of Baramulla-Banihal section (135.5 kilometers), Baramulla-Uri (50 kilometers), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7 kilometers), Awantipora-Shopian (27.6 kilometers) and Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5 kilometers).
The train will pass through almost one dozen villages which are already well connected through a road network. The residents in this area have a small landholding and 80% of agricultural land has been converted into apple farms. An average family owns 2 to 3 kanals of apple orchards (less than half acre) and these below marginal orchardists are now worried as Final Location Survey – FLC is on. Masonry pillars with yellow colors are being erected in the villages & this has frustrated apple farmers especially in Babhar, Keegam, Check Niltrisal, Check Nazninpora, Kunsoo villages which are located in Pulwama and Shopian districts. With an aim of knowing the factual details this author along with some members of J&K Climate Action Group - JKCAG visited around half a dozen villages a few weeks back. We went to the site where these masonry pillars have been erected and met aggrieved farmers as well.

Impact on 5 lakh apple trees?

The local residents informed us that more than 5 lakh apple tree and one lakh plus non-fruit bearing trees in the 27 kms area between Kakapora in Pulwama and Kunsoo in Shopian would be cut down. This includes hundreds of specified trees that are protected by J&K Specified Trees Act 1969? This will be disastrous as we found fully grown apple trees coming under alignment of this railway line. Indian Railways authorities have already installed masonry pillars to demarcate the land and many specified trees like mulberries, walnuts, chinars and willows are coming under alignment of this line. It would also choke dozens of irrigation channels in the area. Unfortunately neither the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah nor Agriculture Minister Javaid Ahmad Dar are speaking on this issue. The Chief Minister must take up this issue with the Union Railways Minister so that this project is not executed. Instead Srinagar Pulwama Shopian road be widened further so as to ease the traffic movement in this area. Dozens of aggrieved apple farmers met us in the villages mentioned above and they seemed depressed and wanted intervention from the Govt especially Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The farmers told that that Kakpora already has a functional railway station, which adequately serves the connectivity needs of the region and distance between Kakapora to Kunsoo Shopian is only 20 kms and it is not understandable why a rail line is needed to connect Kakapora (Awantipora) with Kunsoo in Shopian?

A below marginal farmer 

In Kunsoo Shopian I met several aggrieved farmers whose large amount of land will be acquired for this proposed project. In this village a big Railway station is coming up and more land is required for that. The village is losing almost 40 to 50 kanals of land while people only own 2 to 3 kanals of land per family? I met one Nazir Ahmad Dar who owns only 2 kanals ( 0.25 acres) of apple farm. He was in tears as he was worried about the future of his 5 daughters? “I can’t buy land in adjoining villages as there is no land available? What shall I do with the meagre compensation, I will rather commit suicide “ he told me.

Another farmer Farooq Dar told me that laying a 27 kms rail line by axing 7 lakhs trees is simply suicidal. He said they will fight this legally. It is unfortunate that elected representatives, especially the Chief Minister, local MLAs, Minister of Horticulture and Agriculture, are mum over this burning issue. Only local DDC Member Shopian-B Raja Waheed is a bit vocal. He wrote a letter to DC Shopian some days back and expressed his anguish over this project. He told me that the Govt and field staff like Tehsildar and other officials of the Revenue Department were unaware of this project ?

Before Final Local Survey-FLS a social impact assessment, environmental impact assessment should have been held in the villages. Halqa Majlis, Gram Sabahs are mandatory under Right to Fair Compensation Act 2013 , but that is also not held ? The authorities are not only violating environmental laws but also the land acquisition law as well.

“Nobody is asking us what we want even as the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 is a democratic law and local people need to be consulted through public hearings and gram sabha (halqa majlis) ? ” questions Umar Wani a farmer from Babhar Pulwama who also interacted with me

Irrational Idea 

Setting up a 27 km railway line by cutting down 7 lakh apple & other specified trees is an unreasonable and irrational idea? Awantipora (Kakapora) is well connected with Shopian through a road network - that could be further widened - but the Govt wants to axe 7 lakh trees which will not only have an impact on the local economy and livelihood but will impact biodiversity and environment as well. The apple orchards around Pulwama and Shopian not only help to strengthen our economy but it acts as biodiversity hub in these areas.

Through photosynthesis, apple tree leaves also absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in their biomass (trunks, branches, and roots). This reduces the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby helping to mitigate global warming. Mature apple orchards can act as long-term carbon sinks, locking away carbon for decades. Apple plantations improve air quality as their leaves and bark trap particulate matter and other air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide-SO2 and nitrogen oxides. This is particularly beneficial in areas with poor air quality due to industrial emissions or vehicular traffic.

Conclusion 

Apple orchards create habitats for a wide range of organisms, including insects, birds, and small mammals. Carbon sequestration in apple plants is much better and pollinators like bees and butterflies benefit immensely from the flowers of apple trees. This provides a critical source of nectar and pollen. The increased biodiversity enhances ecosystem resilience and stability. In addition to it we have hundreds and thousands of other trees like mulberries, chinars, walnuts, willows in this area and these trees can’t be cut down as they come under J&K Specified Trees Act 1969. There are small irrigation channels, kuls which will get impacted and riverbed mining, clay mining would get a boost as a lot of filling would be required for this 27 railway track. It will be a huge disaster & one can imagine what would be its impact on environment and ecology? The local people have already held Halqa Majalis / Gram Sabha and they plan to seek judicial intervention now as the elected Govt has failed to come to their rescue?

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow and Chairman J&K RTI Movement