Budgam: Farmers from nearly ten villages in Chadoora sub-division of Budgam district staged protests this week after three irrigation channels fed by the Doodh Ganga stream were washed away in recent floods, threatening more than 3,000 kanals of agricultural land.
The protesters alleged that years of illegal riverbed mining using heavy machinery had weakened the embankments, causing massive erosion and landslides. “The illegal sand and boulder mining has been going on for five to six years. Although it was curtailed last June after strict directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the damage was already done,” said Abdul Rashid Sheikh, a farmer from Doyan Chadoora.
According to the farmers, key irrigation channels including Kralpur Kul, Masar Kul and Doyan Kul have been destroyed, affecting thousands of kanals of land both directly and indirectly. They warned of intensified protests if the government fails to restore the channels before the next cropping season in March.
The issue of illegal mining and pollution in the Doodh Ganga is already under judicial scrutiny. The NGT has previously penalized the Budgam Mining Department and Municipal Committee Chadoora with fines of Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh respectively in the case Raja Muzaffar Bhat vs Govt of Jammu & Kashmir and Others. Last year, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation was also fined Rs 42 crore for discharging untreated sewage into the stream from multiple pump stations across the city.
Meanwhile, the J&K government has sanctioned Rs 140 crore for two sewage treatment plants in Chanapora and Chadoora to address water pollution in the stream. Tenders worth Rs 67 crore for the first phase have been issued by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department, though work has been delayed due to weak response from bidders.
The Doodh Ganga case is listed for the next hearing before the NGT on September 25, 2025.
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