Kashmir Discussion Forum:

[KO-Editor]

An American documentary filmmaker whose history of the environmental movement is being broadcast on public television in the US this week, while speaking on Earth Day said, “ Every Earth Day is a reflection of where we are as a culture. If it has become commoditized, about green consumerism instead of systemic change, then it is a reflection of our society.” This quote, perhaps, best illustrates where Kashmir today stands as a society on environmental preservation and conservation. year’s Earth Day, sadly, was yet again marked by symbolic official functions in Kashmir, which help pretty little in achieving substantial results. Unarguably, we are sitting on an environmental time bomb of sorts. And it is high time we go beyond seminars and preaching. The problem is that J& K state, in particular its most productive region – Kashmir Valley, is a small eco- system. Rising population, militarization, environmental and ecological degradation, lax environmental laws and enforcement all contribute to its environmental devastation, which, in the times to come, may severely impact its climate stability and livelihood avenues drawn from ecological resources. the heart of these issues are our dismal governance and perpetual political instability. Dismal governance reflects in lax laws, poor environmental preservation and conservation.

Political instability – as a result of adhoc political systems – prevents decisive state actions. Coincidentally, Defence Minister A K Antony’s statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday on the Indian Army’s ‘ land use’ in J& K in response to a question posed by a Kashmiri parliamentarian fell on the Earth Day itself. His statement that 72,651 acres ( 5.86 lakh kanals) of land are under the possession of Army, Air Force and Navy in Jammu and Kashmir is a grim reminder of the pressure on the state’s limited ecological resources. Out of these, as per the Defence Minister’s statement, 14944 acres ( 1.20 lakh kanals) of land have been acquired by the defence forces, 24166 acres ( 1.95 lakh kanals) have been ‘ hired’ while 22725 acres ( 1.83 lakh kanals) is what has been termed as ‘ requisitioned land.’ What is significant is the minister’s admission that most of the hired/ requisitioned land under the possession of the defense forces in the state is agricultural/ orchard land. it is here where the problem lies. This occupation of land results in stress on other kinds of lands in the state, which are either flood plains or protected lands. The reason Kashmir Valley, in particular, is faced with a serious flooding threat is that most of its flood plains are coming under human occupation. foremost reason being that prime lands are in the use of defense forces. Another factor which needs to be considered in the stress on the state’s forest land near the Line of Control ( LoC) is its militarization on both the sides of this de facto border. Mr. Antony’s statement that 9281 acres ( 74895 kanals) of land have been occupied by the armed forces near the Line of Control clearly substantiates this concern. On the other hand, reckless exploitation of sand, soil and other materials from the state’s rivers, Karewas and fragile mountain eco systems pose a challenge too. Kashmir Valley’s Karewas are being destroyed at an alarming pace. This is a serious governance failure. Other ready examples of our governance dysfunction are the inability in enforcing the ban on the use of polythene, improper municipal waste management and failure in maintaining urban green spaces. It is sad that our urban green spaces are under constant onslaught of construction activities. The worst part is that environmental preservation is hardly an integrated part of urban planning. Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and its By- Pass Road are two examples. Even as a culturally- sensitive concrete monster is being created in Lal Chowk, the green component is totally missing. Similarly, it is almost criminal to plant non- local cypress tress along Srinagar’s By- Pass Road, instead of local and much more environment friendly deodars, poplars or willows. The aesthetic grandeur of the trees of the erstwhile Bypass needs to be restored, so does the need for creating some greenery at Lal Chowk.