Shazia Ambreen
The J&K is one of the few states in India where pollution levels are still manageable and people living have a luxury to breathe in free air, which is a big incentive seeing the levels of pollution in other major cities of country.
From last few decades, the pollution levels have also reached to an alarming stage in J&K and government seems to have turned blind eye towards that, however, recent decision by the UT administration is seen as the last nail in the coffin and could potentially degrade the air quality of towns and cities in the Union Territory.
Recently, to promote ‘ease of doing business’ by creating a business-friendly environment, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir notified the J&K Stone Crushers/ Hot and Wet Mixing Plants Regulation Rules, 2021 which have dispensed away the requirement of a license to start operation of stone crushers/ hot and wet mixing plants in Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision will facilitate establishment and functioning of stone crushers, hot and wet mixing plants and boost the supply of raw material required in the construction sector. This will also expedite completion of various mega-projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision will certainly affect the environment and more crushers and hot mix plants will come up in J&K, especially in Kashmir which could lead to more pollution. The UT in general and Kashmir region in particular is already facing a dust problem and the crushers will aggravate the problem and there could be dust everywhere.
Raja Muzaffar Bhat, RTI activist who speaks on environment related issues said that instead of promoting industrial units with less carbon emissions, the government has given free hand to pollution causing industries. “This will be disaster and will also cause pollution and destroy our streams and rivers.”
Given to various human interventions and technology, the ecology of Kashmir has also suffered significantly. Known for its pristine water streams, rivers, lush green gardens and parks, the valley has already lost a considerable portion of wetlands, forest cover and other ecologically fragile places to unplanned urbanization and encroachments.
And now with this new government notification the stone crusher/hot and wet mixing plant as a mineral-based (raw material) processing unit different from those indulged in mineral mining activity.
“As such, the applicability of provisions regulating the working of industrial units has been extended to cover these units, thus, doing away with the need of obtaining respective licenses from the Mining Department. However, if a stone crusher/hot and wet mixing plant undertakes mining of mineral as an additional line of activity, it shall then be additionally governed by the rules applicable to mining industrial units.”
The notification said the new rules make it obligatory on the mineral processing units to procure minor minerals from a valid mining concessionaire registered with the Mining Department. The Department has been authorized to inspect such units, ascertain the source of the raw material and undertake seizure of the illegally sourced minerals.
“The decision provides major relief to the entrepreneurs by removing the burden of double registrations wherein the unit holders had to go through the rigorous procedures of registrations and licensing with the Industries and Commerce Department as well as the Mining Department.”
The notifications comes as yet another jolt to the natural topography of Kashmir where the mountain and hills have been levelled by JCB’s to extract soil for construction purposes. It is to be feared that after losing our hills and mountains that was mightily protecting Kashmir from massive earthquakes, the fish habitation in the streams may suffer massively after extraction of minerals.
“Now it will be free for all. We will lose all our good places in Kashmir and the entire onus will lie on the government,” said Ishfaq Ahmad a city based environmentalist.
There are many factors which have degraded our towns and cities, the human influx from small towns, village and hamlets.
“Particularly the 33 year old Kashmir conflict is also responsible for migration, decreasing healthy and greener life standards, the lawlessness, conflict resolution, political uncertainty, human and environmental rights violations are highly responsible. The breathing space we had in the form of lakes and water bodies, grasslands and green cover is shrinking fast. There is hardly anything left to reclaim.”
This Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ for the Ease of Living Index 2020 released a list of cities in India, while Bangalore has been ranked on top among cities with population of more than a million followed by Pune and Ahmadabad Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar are ranked at the bottom three.
The 15 evaluation criteria included in the ranking are governance, identity and culture, education, health, safety and security, economy, affordable housing, land use planning, public open spaces, transportation and mobility, assured water supply, waste-water management, solid waste management, power, and quality of environment.
