The Hon’ble Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, on Wednesday heard extensive arguments in Public Interest Litigation (PIL No. 8 of 2017) titled Environmental Policy Group (EPG) v. Union of India & Others, which concerns the Valley’s flood vulnerability and ecological degradation.

During the hearing, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, appeared through virtual mode. The Court directed the Government to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) on the recommendations submitted by Advocate Nadeem Qadri, Amicus Curiae, and on the comprehensive report filed on September 8 by EPG Convenor, Mr. Faiz Bakshi. The report, backed by field observations, highlighted the recurring flood scare and the authorities’ continued inability to frame a comprehensive flood management plan.
The Bench expressed serious concern over the mismanagement of the Flood Spill Channel, the Valley’s primary flood safeguard. The Amicus Curiae placed on record pictorial evidence showing alarming deficiencies and encroachments. The Chief Justice expressed particular anguish that parts of the channel had been converted into football fields, calling it a shocking example of administrative negligence.
Granting the Government three weeks’ time, the Court ordered submission of a detailed compliance and ATR, with strict directions that it must outline both preventive and remedial measures to address Kashmir’s flood risks. The matter will be listed again after the report is filed.
Advocate Shafqat Nazir, counsel for EPG, also drew the Court’s attention to serious non-compliance by authorities with several earlier orders of the Bench. He urged the Court to ensure strict accountability.
The EPG’s latest report painted a grim picture of the administration’s handling of the issue. “The government is clueless on the way forward,” Convenor EPG Bakshi wrote. “Those competent and qualified to decide the future course of action are neither empowered nor listened to, while those who are empowered but not qualified are not inclined to act.”
The report urged the Court to impose an immediate moratorium on land allotments, transfers, or construction within 500 metres of wetlands, warning that rampant encroachments were choking natural flood basins. Projects such as Rakh Arth, Transworld University, and IIM Srinagar, it cautioned, were aggravating flood vulnerability and must be halted forthwith.
Underscoring the lessons from the catastrophic floods of September 2014, the EPG emphasised that wetland and flood basin conservation is central to Kashmir’s long-term security. Bakshi recommended the creation of small storage reservoirs in every basin and sub-basin to moderate water flow, suggesting that these could be integrated with solar-based hybrid pumped storage systems. “Therein lies the answer to our two main woes — flood and power — in that order,” he submitted.
The PIL, pending since 2017, has repeatedly flagged the Valley’s fragile flood management system. With the Court’s fresh directions, the Government now faces the task of demonstrating tangible measures to safeguard Kashmir against the looming threat of another flood disaster.