Fisheries Deptt raids mining site in Sukhnag river after NGT order

Budgam, Oct 16: Following the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order to constitute a high-level inquiry committee to assess damages caused to the Sukhnag River in Beerwah, Budgam, due to illegal riverbed mining, the J&K Fisheries Department conducted raids in several locations in the Beerwah area on Wednesday and halted the illegal activities.

The team, headed by Assistant Director of Fisheries Budgam Mushtaq Ahmad, also instructed the workers of NKC Construction Company to remove their JCB and L&T cranes from the site. Locals appreciated the action but expressed that it should have been taken two years ago, as illegal riverbed mining has significantly harmed the Sukhnag River, which is a designated trout fish stream in Kashmir.

On Friday, October 4, 2024, the NGT's Principal Bench, comprising Justice Prakash Srivastava (Chairperson), Justice A K Tyagi, and Dr Senthil A Veil (Expert Member), heard a petition filed by Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a noted social and environmental activist, against the riverbed mining in Sukhnag. The mining activities have been causing environmental disasters and endangering aquatic life, particularly the trout fish population.

Advocate Saurabh Sharma, counsel for the petitioner, informed the NGT principal bench of the factual details and presented geotagged pictures of heavy machinery and dumpers extracting boulders from the Sukhnag Nallah in violation of J&K's Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016. The petitioner’s counsel also argued that the halting of water flow in May this year resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 fish at a nearby trout fish farm owned by local entrepreneur Peerzada Rayees, yet the government failed to register an FIR against the illegal miners and contractors.

“I wish this action had been taken by the Fisheries Department more than two years ago. It was only after I approached the NGT and personally took up the matter with the Director of J&K Fisheries Department that he sent his team to the site at Sail Beerwah. The department is also responsible for the destruction of this beautiful river, which once had a large trout fish population that has since perished. The action taken must be sustainable and not cosmetic. The Fisheries Department must ensure that no JCB or L&T machines are used in mining, as this violates all laws, including the Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016,” said Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat.

The Principal Bench, headed by Justice Prakash Srivastava, directed the formation of a committee to investigate the facts and submit a report within eight weeks. The committee members will include the Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in New Delhi, a representative from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee, and the Director of Fisheries in the J&K Govt. "The Member Secretary of the J&K Pollution Control Committee will act as the nodal agency in this case," the order stated.