Bilal Bhat
Pulwama, August 25:
Just a day after Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary delivered a fierce warning to the mining mafia, vowing “zero tolerance” and strict action against illegal mining in Jammu and Kashmir, the ground reality in Pulwama has made a complete mockery of the political system. Despite the Deputy CM’s tough stance, heavy illegal mining continues unabated in Rambi Ara Lassipora and adjoining areas, even amid the monsoon rains.
Cents of tippers, loaded with illegally extracted material, thunder down the roads at breakneck speed as if on a mission, plundering natural resources and draining state revenue. Locals say the scale of operations is unprecedented and raises serious questions on whether the administration is complicit or simply powerless.
“This is nothing less than state resources being looted. If the Deputy CM’s words are mocked within 24 hours, what does it say about the system?” questioned Irshad Malik, a Pulwama-based civil society activist.
Local resident Abdul Majid expressed fear of looming ecological disaster: “Pulwama’s fragile ecosystem cannot take this level of exploitation. Look at Uttarakhand, look at Kishtwar—illegal mining is the seed of natural calamities waiting to explode here too.”
Another young local, Irfan Teli, compared the current silence of officials to a ticking time bomb. “This is not just about mining, it’s about our rivers, our soil, our children’s future. If this continues, disasters like Uttarakhand will not be far from Pulwama.”
What makes the situation even more alarming is that mining during the monsoon season is strictly prohibited under India’s Sand Mining Guidelines (2020) and many state laws, precisely because it destabilizes riverbanks, worsens floods, and increases landslide risks. Yet, in Pulwama, rules are being openly flouted as tippers carry load after load, while officials look the other way.
The irony is unmistakable—on one hand, the Deputy Chief Minister thunders against the mining mafia; on the other, the mafia continues its operations brazenly, right under the nose of the administration. The gap between statements and ground action has once again exposed how deeply entrenched the illegal mining network is across South Kashmir.
Until the government matches its rhetoric with visible crackdowns, Pulwama’s rivers will continue to be ravaged, hills hollowed, and the environment sold off truckload by truckload—even in monsoon, when the law of the land itself says “No Mining.”
