Srinagar — In a stark warning to authorities and the public alike, the Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has raised serious concerns over the creation of a large illegal garbage dumping site near the 252-million-year-old Guryul Ravine Fossil Park, located in Khonmoh on the outskirts of Srinagar. The group has termed the act a “grave ecological violation” that endangers one of the world’s most important geo-heritage sites.
Recognised globally by geologists, paleontologists, and climate scientists, the Guryul Ravine holds rare fossil evidence from the Permian-Triassic boundary, marking Earth’s largest mass extinction. Uniquely, the site also contains the earliest known sedimentary evidence of a prehistoric tsunami, a discovery that has drawn international research interest and made the ravine a natural laboratory for studying ancient climate shifts, tectonics, and ecological recovery.
In a press statement issued Saturday, EPG expressed “deep anguish” over the encroachment of this scientifically priceless site. “The establishment of a garbage dumping yard in such proximity to a globally significant fossil record is nothing short of environmental vandalism,” the statement read.
The move, the group said, violates multiple environmental regulations, including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The dumping also stands in direct contravention of binding directions issued by the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, which had earlier ordered conservation of heritage-rich ecological zones.
EPG highlighted that past mining activities near the fossil park had drawn international condemnation from geoscientists, prompting the Government of India to ban mining in the area under direct orders from the Prime Minister’s Office. Despite this, the group alleged, “officials have now gone a step further by enclosing a large area as a garbage dumping site and constructing a waste shed” at the location.
Environmentalists and researchers fear that the illegal waste activity could cause irreversible damage to the fossil beds and sedimentary layers, wiping out vital evidence of Earth’s most dramatic evolutionary transitions.
The group called on multiple departments—Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee, District Administration Srinagar, Department of Geology and Mining, Department of Wildlife Protection, and Department of Rural Development—to “immediately dismantle the dumping site” and take strict legal action against those responsible.
Civil society members, scientists, and legal experts have joined in expressing outrage. EPG confirmed it is preparing to file a fresh petition before the High Court seeking urgent judicial intervention and enforcement of past orders.
In an urgent appeal to the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha, as well as the Chief Minister, Mr. Omar Abdullah, and the Chief Secretary, the EPG has demanded immediate executive action. The group is also urging the government to officially declare the Guryul Ravine and its surroundings a “No-Dumping Zone” and notify it as an Eco-Sensitive Area under relevant environmental and heritage protection laws.
“Guryul Ravine is not just a Kashmiri landmark,” the statement concluded, “but a global geological monument of irreplaceable value. It is a classroom for students, a research base for scientists, and a heritage site for humanity. To neglect or damage it is to betray the future.”
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