SRINAGAR: Farmers in Chadoora sub-division of central Kashmir’s Budgam district are up in arms after three vital irrigation channels sourced from the Doodh Ganga stream were washed away in recent floods, threatening more than 3,000 kanals of agricultural land. The protesting farmers blame years of illegal riverbed mining for the large-scale erosion and landslides along the stream, warning that unless the channels are restored before March next year, both their livelihoods and food security will be at risk.
Farmers from nearly 10 villages staged a protest near the Doodh Ganga a few days ago, accusing authorities of turning a blind eye to unchecked mining that has ravaged the river embankments. “Illegal sand and boulder mining has been going on for the last five to six years using heavy machinery. Though it was partially halted last year after the National Green Tribunal’s orders, the damage had already been done,” said Abdul Rashid Sheikh, a farmer from Doyan Chadoora.
Sheikh alleged that while the mining block in Chadoora upstream was auctioned for a mere Rs 1.33 crore, material worth more than Rs 300 crore was extracted illegally using L&T and JCB cranes, tippers and dumpers. “The heavy machinery damaged embankments and the small irrigation channels, locally known as kuls. Three of them — Kralpur Kul, Masar Kul and Doyan Kul — were washed away in the floods. If not repaired before March, over 3,000 kanals of agricultural land will be directly affected and nearly 6,000 kanals indirectly hit,” he said.
The case of illegal mining and pollution in the Doodh Ganga is already under litigation before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the past four years. The tribunal has imposed penalties on several government agencies, including Rs 1 crore on the Mining Department Budgam and Rs 50 lakh on the Municipal Committee, Chadoora. In the same matter, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) was last year directed to pay Rs 42 crore in environmental compensation for discharging untreated sewage into the stream through 13 pumping stations in areas like Chanapora Bypass, Natipora, Barzulla, Bulbulbagh and Tengpora.
To address the sewage pollution, the Jammu and Kashmir government has sanctioned a Rs 140 crore project for two sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Chanapora and Chadoora. The Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) has already issued tenders for the first phase worth Rs 67 crore, but officials admit the work is stalled due to poor response from bidders.
The Doodh Ganga case, titled Raja Muzaffar Bhat v/s Govt of J&K and others, is listed for its next hearing before the NGT on September 25, 2025.
For the farmers, however, the urgency is immediate. They warn that if the irrigation channels are not restored before the next agricultural cycle, they will intensify protests against the administration. “We will not remain silent spectators as our lands are destroyed. The authorities who allowed this loot and plunder must be held accountable,” Sheikh said.
