Springs in Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining

Bulbul Nag located in Newa village of Pulwama district is a natural spring that has been providing drinking water supply to the entire area for centuries. When the Government began providing clean drinking water supply through pipelines in late 1970’s in Newa and adjoining villages, the Bulbul Nag was chosen as one of the water sources by the Public Health Engineering Department-PHE of J&K, also referred to as Jal Shakti Department.

There are many such Naags which serve as drinking water sources for PHE and huge funds have been used for their upkeep and development. I remember in Daulatpura village of Chadoora, the govt spent almost Rs 30 crores on development of water supply scheme in the last 15 years, and finally when a large tank was constructed the source of this water supply plant-Arbal Naag dried up. This was due to constant riverbed mining happening in Doodh Ganga. I had written a detailed article on this issue in noted science magazine Down to Earth a few months back.

Illegal Mining in Romshi

For more than 45 years drinking water was supplied by the PHE-Jal Shakti Department from Bulbul Nag to more than two dozen villages in Pulwama. The PHE Department has installed high end water pumping machines some decades back. The water would gush out from this spring, locals told me when I visited the site last year in September, but for the last 3 to 4 years water level in this Naag (spring) has receded to a great extent. I was told by the local residents that there were multiple openings / aquifers in the Bulbul Nag but now only one or two are working which has depleted the water supply to this fresh water spring. The PHE Department is not able to supply drinking water to a huge population of around 20,000 to 30,000 people living in Newa and adjoining villages. The illegal mining happening in nearby Romshi stream is said to be the main reason for depletion of water level in Bulbul naag. The dozens of springs located around small rivers originating from Pir Panjal mountain range especially like Vaishav, Rambiara, Romshi, Doodh Ganga, Shali Ganga, Sukhnag etc., have dried up. Situation is also similar in North Kashmir I have been told.

Springs around Sukhnag dried up

For the last few years I have written extensively about destruction caused in Sukhnag stream (nallah) which flows through dozens of villages in Beerwah tehsil of Budgam district. As the District Administration, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Geology & Mining Department as well as Fisheries Department failed to act on my repeated pleas, I had to move a petition in National Green Tribunal-NGT New Delhi last year. A team was deputed by the Hon’ble NGT that visited the site and filed a detailed report highlighting the loot and plunder caused to this fresh water stream. The details provided by Geology & Mining Department J&K to National Green Tribunal (NGT) reveal that mere Rs 1.53 crore rupees have been realised as compensation in the last 4 years against the 77 short term permits (STPs).

The amount realised is not even 2% of the actual market cost of the material? These permits were issued to a private construction that is working on construction of Srinagar Ring Road. This information was provided by the District Mineral Officer (DMO) to Member Secretary JK Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC who further submitted this evidence before the Hon’ble NGT. In Zainigam, Sail, Kangripora, and Kanigund villages as many as 20 springs have dried up. The locals told this to the visiting NGT constituted team on Dec 26th 2024. All these springs were fed with water supply from the Sukhnag stream. As Sukhnag underwent 10 to 20 meters deep mining in the last 3 to 4 years using heavy machinery the supply lines to springs were cut. After NGT team came to the site on December 26th 2024 this illegal work was stopped, but who will restore the dried up springs? In Kanigund village alone, as many as four springs have dried up, a local resident Mushtaq Ahmad told me.

Conclusion

The illegal Riverbed Mining has not only caused environmental disaster and huge loss to state exchequer across Jammu & Kashmir, it has also led to drying up of springs (naags). This is mainly due to deep mining which has receded water table around the streams and rivers. Even the bore wells and tube wells in many villages have dried up. The situation in coming months and years would be disastrous as we are already facing drought-like situations due to scarcity of snowfall and rainfall. The Government needs to consult experts to overcome this terrible situation and punish those Govt officers who played their role in destroying these water bodies.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is anAcumen Fellow and Chairman J&K Climate

Action Group