JAMMU: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has blamed reckless and unregulated development in the Himalayan region for the devastation caused by the recent floods. She urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the issue, stressing that the fragile Himalayan belt is “very sensitive and delicate.”
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said India, as the “elder brother” of Pakistan, should use this crisis as an opportunity to reach out to its neighbour, which could help ease strained bilateral ties.
“We have inflicted severe damage on our environment and ecology. This destruction will not only haunt us today but also leave future generations with disasters as a legacy. People must wake up and speak out. The Supreme Court should intervene because the entire Himalayan region is extremely vulnerable,” Mufti told reporters in Jammu after visiting flood-affected areas, where she expressed grief over the loss of lives, including those of pilgrims.
She criticised the current development model, citing six-lane highways, tunnels and ropeways as examples of projects that have ravaged fragile ecosystems in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. “The government has created a culture of contractors. Hills are being bored unnecessarily, and forests, rivers and land are handed over at throwaway rates. Even temples and religious sites are being reduced to picnic spots,” she said, pointing to the Amritsar–Katra highway and Char Dham projects.
Mufti further alleged widespread illegal mining in rivers by outside contractors. “Huge machines dig five metres deep instead of the permitted one metre, leaving our rivers hollow. This is an environmental disaster. Landslides, cloudbursts and floods will not stop if such practices continue,” she warned.
Calling the Chenab Valley a “well of death,” she predicted it may become uninhabitable within the next 10–15 years due to unchecked exploitation. She demanded stricter regulation of tourism and pilgrim influx, warning that celebrating rising visitor numbers at the cost of ecology would prove disastrous.
On India’s recent gesture of alerting Pakistan about floods after Operation Sindoor, the PDP chief remarked: “Pakistan and India are shaped by the same winds and broken by the same floods. Climate change knows no borders and is claiming more lives than terrorism. India must lead with compassion.”
Recalling her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, she said that after the 2005 cloudburst, he had told then-External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that if an “India-made bag” reached every household in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, people would see India’s true face.
“This is an opportunity. We are a big country blessed by the Almighty. If we act wisely and reach out to Pakistan in times of disaster, it will also help resolve our troubled relations over Jammu and Kashmir,” she added.
