Cause of Flood Devastation in Kashmir Valley
By Naveed Khan
Pleasanton, CA
I want to draw the attention of Pakistan Link readers to the fact that the unprecedented devastation owing to floods in Indian-Occupied Kashmir is partly because of the climate change and mostly due to the abuse of the land in the Kashmir valley.
Since 1989, India has maintained about 1 million military/paramilitary forces in the valley. They have cut trees, sliced mountains to build garrisons, cantonments, roads to accommodate and facilitate movement of that large force in the valley that has a population of just over 6 million.
These troops do not belong to the Kashmir valley, they have abused the land and damaged its eco-system.
Similarly, the Union Government of India has aggressively pushed pilgrimage by Hindu Yatris to the caves of Amaranath and Vishnoo Devi. This has added to the burden. Land had to be allotted to accommodate thousands of Yatris and they leave a colossal amount of debris and waste. Close to 1 million people visit Amarnath caves for pilgrimage (Yatra) every year. It is an environmental disaster.
The presence of Indian military, coupled with large number of Yatris, has caused serious disruption to the sustainability of the valley. If the Kashmir valley has to be saved, then India has to rethink its policies about the number of troops and curtail or stop pilgrimage. Kashmir has to restore itself, otherwise I see more devastating floods in the future.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
