Road to Destruction!
Can we compensate the loss of water bodies, mountains or forests with money? It is impossible! Damage to the environment is irreparable.
There has been massive damage to the environment in Jammu and Kashmir mainly due to haphazard construction of infrastructure development projects. This happens in absence of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Be it laying of power transmission wires or construction of roads in eco-fragile areas, forests have been bearing the brunt of “development.” There has been massive outcry by environmentalists about the felling of trees for construction of roads through forests.
The felling of trees for construction of the Handwara-Bangus road has caught the attention of National Green Tribunal (NGT). An environmental and RTI activist Rasikh Rasool Bhat has been fighting a long legal battle for protection of forest along the road. The petitioner has submitted in the NGT that clearance had been granted only for Phase-I of the project while work on Phase-II had already been initiated without formal approval. Acting on the petition, NGT in August this year had directed the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir to file a comprehensive affidavit explaining how more than 1,000 trees and saplings were felled in the Rajwar Forests of Kupwara for the Handwara–Bangus road project without the mandatory payment of compensatory charges worth ₹3.81 crore.
The Tribunal has also asked the government to spell out disciplinary action against officers who permitted the violations and to disclose whether similar irregularities exist in other projects across the Union Territory.
The petitioner submits that the Government had permitted the Public Works Department to use 14 hectares of dense forest land for Phase-I of the Handwara–Bangus road project. The permission included the feeling of 447 full-grown trees, 340 poles, and 236 saplings, mostly comprising deodar, kail, and fir species. In return, the department is required to deposit Rs 3.81 crore towards Net Present Value, Compensatory Afforestation, and Roadside Avenue Plantation. Questions are being raised that can the government compensate for the loss of trees? Are we doing a barter system with nature!
During the recent hearing, the Chief Secretary tendered an unconditional and unreserved apology before the NGT for failing to file the Action Taken Report (ATR) within the stipulated period in the case.
The tribunal has rightly observed that “environmental governance cannot be compromised and reiterated that responsibility must be established at every level for lapses causing ecological harm.”
Rajwar Forest, through which the road passes, is an ecologically sensitive area and home to wild animals such as the Himalayan black bear, leopard, and Himalayan deer. Beyond the damage to the environment, movement of vehicles will disturb the habitat of wild animals.
How much more damage will we inflict on our forests? Already 3.86 lakh kanals of forest land has been encroached upon in Jammu and Kashmir. In the disguise of so-called development, trees have been not felled but massacred in forests! More than 1 lakh trees of Apple, Chinar, Walnut, Mulberry were chopped down to pave way for construction of Srinagar Ring Road. Around 6000 trees were felled wantonly in 2015 for setting up 1,115 pylons and 1,200 towers inside forests to lay a 414-km line via Mughal road, between Shopian and Poonch.
During construction of the 220-kV Alastang-Leh transmission line spreading 320 kms, 150 hectares of forest land including areas of Sindh Forest Division in Sonamarg were handed over to Power Grid Corporation of India. More than 14,600 lush green and towering conifers in the Daruder forest belt were razed to the ground to pave way for laying transmission lines.
Are we fiddling with nature? Amid climate change, the destruction of forests and construction activities can be detrimental for the eco-fragile environment of J&K. We are already reeling under the ill-effects of climate change. We are witnessing prolonged dry spells even in winters during the last several years. And then a heavy spell of rain causes a flood situation. We are caught between two extremes of weather.
We don’t blame ourselves when natural disasters strike us. Given the increasing frequency of natural disasters, it is apt to call these man-made disasters. We leave no stone unturned to vandalise our natural resources be it glaciers, mountains, forests, lakes, springs or wetlands. In the name of so-called development, we have devastated natural resources. Government has no concept of sustainable development in J&K.
We have to understand that we are living in an eco-fragile zone. We have witnessed how dangerous natural disasters can be. Jammu and Kashmir is prone to natural disasters particularly floods, landslides, earthquakes. Due to climate change, J&K has been witnessing frequent cloudbursts in the last over a decade.
It is high time we wake up and take measures to prevent further damage to the environment. If we care for nature, it will care for us. If we damage nature, it will take its revenge. We have to learn to live in harmony with nature. Environmental Impact Assessment must be made mandatory before execution of all projects especially in eco-fragile areas. Government must strike a balance between development and the environment. Let’s join hands to save J&K from environmental catastrophe!.
Author is Executive Editor, Greater Kashmir
