Early Times Report
New Delhi, Mar 7: A government-constituted fact-finding committee has confirmed that illegal riverbed mining has caused massive destruction to the Sukhnag River in the Beerwah area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said on Saturday.
The seven-member panel, formed by the Deputy Commissioner of Budgam in August last year following a directive from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has submitted its report to the Tribunal through the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC).
According to the report, the river—recognized as a designated trout fish stream—has suffered severe ecological degradation due to extensive and illegal mining operations.
To restore the water body, the committee, led by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Beerwah and the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pir Panjal, has recommended filling the deep trenches created by mining, levelling the riverbed, and constructing gabion structures and check-dams. The panel has also suggested the creation of artificial pools to facilitate trout breeding.
The NGT, which is hearing a petition filed by Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, had previously constituted a supervisory committee to oversee the investigation. This panel includes the Member Secretary of the JKPCC, the Regional Officer (Chandigarh) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), and a nominee from the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE).
In a virtual meeting held on February 24, members of the supervisory committee noted that the report is largely qualitative. Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee, a Scientist with the NIHE, stressed the need for a physical spot visit to assess the damage accurately. Dr. Khurshid Alam Khan from the MoEF&CC pointed out that additional quantitative data is required to determine the exact extent of the damage and fix responsibility.
During the recent hearing on February 26, the NGT directed the expert panel to visit the site within weeks. The tribunal specifically ordered the committee to assess the losses suffered by Peerzada Rayees, a local trout fish farmer from Sail Beerwah, whose farm was reportedly damaged. The directive references a communication from the J&K Director of Fisheries confirming the loss.
“The expert committee is expected to visit the site shortly as the case is listed for the next hearing on March 27, 2026,” said the petitioner, Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat. He added that the report must be submitted to the tribunal a week prior to the hearing.
The NGT had previously imposed a complete ban on mining in the Sukhnag river in January 2025 after a joint fact-finding team reported extensive devastation during a site visit in December 2024. |