The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognizance of a news item highlighting the dwindling of trout population in Vishaw stream, a vital tributary of River Jhelum in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, allegedly due to rising pollution and unregulated mining activities.
The NGT has registered an original application based on the news item published on December 16, 2024 and has impleaded several respondents, including the Member Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Directorate of Fisheries, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Deputy Commissioner of Kulgam.
The news report alleged the stream’s water quality has been severely affected due to unscientific mining practices, especially during critical breeding seasons, and that the extraction of boulders and sand along the stream has increased flood risks for nearby villages.
The report also stated that the river’s water was once so pure that people drank directly from it, but today it is polluted with drainage and agricultural waste.
The case raises substantial issues relating to compliance with the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The NGT has recognized its power to take up the matter suo motu, as established by the Supreme Court in the case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai vs. Ankita Sinha & Ors.
The Bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Judicial Member and Dr A Senthil Vel, Expert Member, has directed the respondents to file their responses/replies by way of affidavit before the tribunal at least one week before the next date of hearing, which is scheduled for April 23, 2025.
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