Protect pristine forests, meadows from vandalisation!
As if climate change was not enough, forests and meadows in Jammu and Kashmir face a new threat! Off-roading activities, in which vehicles are driven through meadows and forests, have evoked serious concern among nature lovers and environmentalists.
They see off-roading as a threat to flora and fauna of ecologically fragile areas rather than a recreational sport! Given the rugged terrains of J&K, there has been an increase in off-roading events. This has put the forests and meadows under stress due to increase in pollution levels, damage to trees, and herbs besides causing disturbances to wild animals.
Recently there was massive outcry when a video of a group of persons driving all-terrain vehicles through forests in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district went viral. This triggered prompt action by authorities and police and a case was registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Forest Act (IFA). The Budgam administration has directed the Forest Department to ensure that such violations are not repeated and hold awareness drives to educate locals and tourists about the importance of meadows.
However this is not the first case where all-terrain vehicles have been driven through pastures and forests. Off-roading events have been happening regularly from past several years across Kashmir and hardly any action was taken to stop such activities detrimental to the environment. Off-road driving is strictly prohibited in sensitive areas like meadows, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries, however there is lack of enforcement.
In September 2023, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) acting on a petition took serious note of damage to meadows due to off-roading in various tourist resorts including famous ski-resort Gulmarg, Nagin, Valley and Drung in north Kashmir and Tosamaidam and Doodhpathri in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.
Acting on NGT’s direction, the government had constituted a committee which had recommended The committee had recommended that pastures of Gulmarg, Drung, Doodhpatri, Nagin Valley and Tosamaidan should not be allowed for movement of vehicles. The committee has also recommended steps to ensure enforcement which may require additional manpower for implementation of any regulation mechanism for preventing off-roading in eco-sensitive areas.
Videos of social media platforms clearly depict how unscrupulous persons are driving vehicles in meadows causing extensive damage to the ecosystem on various tourist spots. Besides off-roading, tippers, trucks and JCBs too are frequently seen plying on pastures and forests in absence of regulation. In many areas, timber smugglers are having a field day to destroy prized trees in forests and even ferry the wood in trucks without any fear!
Off roading can be done on rough road surfaces but no way on meadows or in forests. The Kashmir based Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has also raised serious concerns over off roading activities in the forest and meadow areas of Haijan, Branwar, Mechkhanian, and Ashrat in J&K. EPG convener Faiz Ahmad Bakshi rightly has termed these activities “illegal and environmentally destructive.”
EPG states that around 3,60,000 kanals of forest land have already been misused for illegal activities, including unregulated vehicular movement. It notes that during construction of small hydro-power projects and laying of pipelines 15 years ago, massive damage was caused to forests and meadows in Branwar. EPG has warned of taking legal recourse if the government fails to act before “meadows and forests are lost forever.”
We have been observing increasing incidents of landslides and land sinking in various areas of J&K. Environmentalists mince no words to blame haphazard activities for triggering landslides.
J&K’s forests are already under stress due to wanton felling of trees in the last more than three decades. Besides 3.86 lakh kanals of forest land has been encroached upon. More than 82,000 kanals of forest cover has vanished since 2001. Owing to our fragile ecosystem, we cannot afford construction and off roading in eco-fragile areas especially forests.
Increased footfall of people in forests subsequently affects green cover. Emissions from these all-terrain diesel vehicles not only increased pollution levels but led to Black Carbon deposition in glaciers. Studies have found that Black carbon has polluted the pristine environs of ski resort Gulmarg due to increased human, mechanical interventions and movement of diesel run vehicles. Traces of Black Carbon have been found in several glaciers contributing to melting.
Besides there has been a rise in straying of wild animals into human habitations mainly due to disturbances in forests. This has led to an increase in human-animal conflict. Leopards and bears have been attacking mostly kids and elderly persons due to their fragility. In the last two decades, reportedly 250 people were killed and more than 3000 have been injured in human-animal conflicts in J&K.
When we destroy the habitat of wild animals by felling trees or driving Sports Utility Vehicles, they are forced to move out of forests! Who has given us authority to disturb ecological balance? There must be stringent action against those who damage our fragile ecosystem.
It is the duty of the Government as well as people to join hands for protecting our natural resources. We have to look beyond off-roading and come up with a strategy to protect mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, wetlands and springs. We need to learn lessons from the rise in scale of natural disasters like floods and landslides. We must protect and conserve nature’s bounties to fulfill our responsibilities towards this planet as humans!
Author is Executive Editor,
Greater Kashmir.
