For some time now, Rasikh Rasool Bhat has been watching the activity around the river near his home in North Kashmir’s Handwara area with alarm.
In November last year, Bhat saw unchecked and illegal riverbed mining with excavators at different spots of the Bakiaker-Zachaldara stream. The minerals extracted were being used for the construction of a road to the Bangus valley, a popular tourist site.
As he dug deeper, he realised that worse was happening. More than 25,000 trees in the Rajwar forest area had been uprooted to build the road in 2021 and 2022. All of this work, Bhat alleged, was being carried out without any environmental clearance.
In both these cases of alleged violations, Bhat said, the Union territory administration had chosen to look the other way despite complaints.
“From knocking on the door of the Jammu and Kashmir government’s grievance cell to filing Right to Information applications, I did everything,” Bhat said. A dormant member of the National Conference, Bhat even wrote to the police.
“When nobody listened to me, I thought it’s better to approach the top environment court.”
On February 6 this year, he filed an application with the National Green Tribunal, alleging that “big mountains have been blasted and more than 14 hectares of forest land...
