SRINAGAR: Welcoming MLA Tanvir Sadiq’s initiative to introduce legislation in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to protect the housing rights of long-standing lakeside residents, 10 civil society and community organisations have called for expanding the proposed law beyond Dal Lake to cover traditional communities around Wullar Lake, Hygam Wetland, the Jhelum and other ecologically sensitive landscapes.
In a joint statement, the organisations said the proposed legislation could mark a significant shift from an approach that has often treated traditional communities living around water bodies as a problem to be removed, towards recognising them as partners in conservation. They urged the government and the Assembly to ensure that the legislation is inclusive, scientifically grounded, participatory and environmentally accountable.
The signatories said the proposed law should recognise the housing, livelihood and cultural rights of traditional communities while ensuring that legal protection for residents does not become a pathway for ecological damage.
“The right to a dignified home and the right of nature to survive cannot be placed against each other,” Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool said, adding that conservation must not destroy the communities that have lived alongside lakes, nor should the protection of homes come at the cost of the ecosystems that sustain them.
The organisations said Wullar Lake must not remain outside the proposed legal framework, pointing out that thousands of fisherfolk and other indigenous communities have historically depended on the lake for fishing, vegetable cultivation, transportation, wetland resources and associated livelihoods. Traditional settlements along the Jhelum and around Hygam Wetland should also receive recognition under the law, they said.
The statement further called for extending the legislation to traditional settlements around wildlife sanctuaries and protected landscapes, as well as pastoral communities living near tourist destinations, forests, wildlife habitats and alpine areas.
“After Land to the Tiller, this can become another historic chapter in Kashmir’s people-centred legislation,” Dr Rasool said, while cautioning that every traditional community must have a voice in the law.
The groups proposed that the legislation explicitly establish the principle of “Conservation with Rights, not Conservation against People”, arguing that traditional residents should not be displaced merely in the name of conservation. At the same time, they said, housing rights must not legitimise indiscriminate construction, land filling, concretisation, pollution or alteration of natural water channels.
They called for a legally enforceable Eco-Friendly Housing and Conservation Code, saying the term “eco-friendly” must be defined through clear, scientific and enforceable standards rather than remain a general expression.
The proposed code, according to the statement, should prohibit the filling of lakes, wetlands and natural water channels, protect flood channels and drainage systems, regulate construction materials and designs, and mandate sewage treatment, solid-waste management and rainwater management. It should also incorporate ecological carrying capacity, protection of wetland vegetation, disaster-resilient construction, community monitoring, periodic environmental audits and scientific mapping of ecologically sensitive areas.
The organisations said permissions for construction, reconstruction or repair should be linked to ecological criteria rather than determined solely by ownership or occupation status.
Another key demand was a clear legal definition of a “traditional dweller”, covering Dal, Wullar and Hygam residents, traditional Jhelum riverside communities, fisherfolk households, water-dependent livelihood groups and pastoral communities.
They said historical occupation, customary use, livelihood patterns, community records and other credible evidence should be considered in determining eligibility for rights under the proposed law.
The statement also called for examining the cases of historically displaced communities, citing traditional villages displaced during the Maharaja’s period in the area now covered by Dachigam National Park. It said the historical and legal status of the communities, their former ownership or customary use of land, and any surviving rights required detailed examination rather than administrative assumptions.
The groups proposed a statutory Community Conservation Incentive Mechanism to reward traditional communities for protecting water channels, managing waste, restoring wetlands, conserving biodiversity, preventing illegal land filling, preserving traditional ecological knowledge, preparing for floods and promoting sustainable fishing.
Such communities, they said, should be eligible for technical assistance, financial incentives, conservation grants and priority access to appropriate government programmes, thereby making residents partners in conservation rather than merely subjects of regulation.
The statement also called for stronger legal safeguards against encroachment, obstruction of water channels, untreated sewage, waste dumping, wetland destruction and construction that compromises natural drainage or flood pathways. At the same time, traditional residents should have a transparent legal mechanism for repairing, reconstructing and improving unsafe houses.
Seeking greater accountability from conservation authorities, including LAWDA/LCMA, WUCMA and other concerned agencies, the organisations demanded time-bound decisions on applications, written reasons for approvals and rejections, public disclosure of permissions, environmental impact records, social audits and periodic independent audits.
They also sought a transparent grievance-redressal mechanism, protection against arbitrary harassment of traditional residents and clear responsibility for illegal construction and ecological damage.
The statement called for a separation of conservation and tourism functions, arguing that conservation authorities should focus on ecological protection, restoration, regulation, monitoring and scientific management, while tourism and ecotourism planning should be handled through an appropriate framework centred on ecological carrying capacity and community rights.
“Wullar needs conservation, not commercialisation,” Naseer Dar and Gh Hassan Bhat of the Wullar Fisherfolks Union said, arguing that the authority mandated to protect the lake should not become an agency for promoting tourism within the ecosystem it is meant to conserve.
The organisations urged the government and the Assembly not to rush the legislation and called for extensive consultations with traditional Dal residents, Wullar fisherfolk, Hygam communities, Jhelum dwellers, environmental experts, wetland scientists, hydrologists, urban planners, legal experts, pastoral communities, panchayats, civil society groups and government agencies.
They suggested that a Joint Legislative Committee or another multi-stakeholder mechanism could be considered before the Bill is passed.
“A good intention does not automatically produce a good law,” Dr Rasool said, stressing that affected communities must be heard, scientific evidence must guide the legislation and the interests of future generations must be considered.
The statement was jointly issued by Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool of the J&K RTI Movement and Nature Conservancy Alliance; Zahid Parwaz Choudhary, Convenor, Forest Rights Coalition-J&K; Shameem Ahmed Shah, Convenor, Nature Conservancy Alliance; Dr Javaid Un Nabi, Secretary, Civil Society for Justice and Development; Peer Ghulam Mohidin, Co-Founder, J&K RTI Movement; Advocate Naveed Bukhtiyar, Coordinator, J&K RTI Movement; Altaf Poswal, Convenor, Gujjar Bakerwal Foundation; and Naseer Dar and Gh Hassan Bhat of the Wullar Fisherfolks Union. The Indigenous Fisherfolks Foundation and Himalayan Pastoral Foundation were also listed among the issuing organisations.
The groups said the proposed legislation offered an opportunity to move beyond eviction, displacement and conflict between conservation and communities, and establish a framework combining rights, responsibility, science, public participation and accountability.
“The people should not be asked to choose between a home and a healthy lake,” the statement said, urging the government to ensure that the law protects both.
