Nature has blessed Kashmir with all the bounties. The Valley is a perfect place for holidaymakers who want to escape the busy lives in cities and spend some time with nature. It is also a great destination for adventure lovers who want to test their endurance in the high mountains where the reward awaits in the form of majestic alpine lakes and breathtaking meadows. Lately, Bollywood has started reviving its romance with the scenic locations of the Valley. The gurgling and pristine water streams and rivers, and the majestic mountains truly make Kashmir a heaven on the earth. But heaven has been mired in troubles lately. All these troubles are not related to the insurgency that broke out in the early nineties and took away with it the peace and calm in our lives. Many of these troubles are the creature of our own making. Consider the plastic pollution which is threatening to tear apart the ecosystem which makes Kashmir a paradise on the earth. Every other day, we are getting to hear about climate change and how it has started rearing its ugly head in Kashmir. On the policy level, the government is bound by duty to protect this place from the hazards of plastic which is proven to aggravate the climate problem. While many areas in Kashmir have been declared plastic-free, it is a well-known fact that the claim is far from true. Take for instance the health resorts of Kashmir such as Gulmarg and Yusmarg. While the development authorities which control the influx of tourists to these places have deemed them zero-plastic places, their lush green meadows are often littered with plastic waste. Shopkeepers sell their items in plastic bags which move in and out of these places freely and without any hindrance. A second example that could be cited is the situation in our prominent markets, say, Lal Chowk. A custody visit to these shops reveals that most of them sell their items in plastic bags, thus contributing to Kashmir’s environmental meltdown. In fact, while the plastic bags make their way into Kashmir through Jammu-Srinagar highway, very little or nothing is done to actually prevent this slow ingestion of poison. This is a volcano on which we are sitting. The lava is building momentum and the volcano can erupt anytime. The government can’t watch from the sidelines. It has to step in and in the first place prevent these hazardous bags from entering Kashmir. A dedicated team at the Qazigund tunnel to check the trucks could be a good beginning.
