A few days ago, the inhabitants of Newa and its adjoining villages in district Pulwama staged protests against the government’s proposal to establish an NIT campus in the area. The residents were informed by the district and tehsil administration through a notice that the government was planning to set up a new NIT campus, for which around 4500 kanals of state land under their possession needed to be evacuated to pave the way for the construction.
The inhabitants of the area are in a state of panic and grievance, as they have been cultivating this land for many decades. Many qualified youth, while expressing their anger against the government’s proposal, stated that the land they and their forefathers cultivated for ages belonged to them and that they had ownership rights over it.
The area where the government is proposing to construct the new NIT campus is full of apple orchards, almond, pear, and other trees. The qualified youth of the area have planted high-density apple orchards on this land, which serves as their only source of livelihood.
These qualified youth, who have taken loans from banks, are opposing any move by the government to construct the campus. Many politicians, social activists, and academicians have expressed their concern over the issue.
Now the question arises: If the government wants to set up an NIT campus in the area, isn’t it the government’s responsibility to take these stakeholders into confidence?
The construction of such a large campus, requiring 5000 kanals of land that is productive and provides livelihood to a significant number of local farmers, amounts to snatching their livelihoods and, at the same time, destroying the natural biodiversity of the area.
According to the inhabitants, the land is a rich Karewa, best suited for agriculture and horticulture purposes. Setting up the NIT campus here means disturbing the natural topography of the area, snatching livelihoods, reducing the cropped area, and triggering a disaster that will involve cutting down thousands of apple, almond, and other trees. This will undoubtedly disturb the natural ecology of the area.
It has been reported that the land under the cultivation of local farmers is state land. However, this does not mean that the government has the sole authority to seize it from the locals and render them unemployed. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure public welfare.
We are already witnessing a rat race for developmental and construction activities, which have consumed a large area of land, thereby reducing the cropped area and posing challenges to the environment and biodiversity.
The Kashmir Valley is already grappling with the challenge of land degradation due to rapid commercial and construction activities. These have consumed our agricultural and horticultural land, depriving us of rich local produce.
Both rural and urban areas of the valley are witnessing a surge in construction activities, including the construction of residential houses, business complexes, roads, flyovers, and railway tracks.
The need of the hour is to encourage vertical construction practices, which will preserve our productive land and, at the same time, promote sustainable development.
The government must ensure a developmental model that suits the needs and aspirations of the region. It is not necessary that a development model suitable for other states of the country will suit the geographical and economic factors of the valley.
Snatching land from poor farmers without taking them on board and allowing a mega project on such rich and productive Karewas is not just an injustice; it may also have economic and environmental consequences in the long run.
Let the government take all genuine stakeholders on board, particularly the local farmers, and arrive at a consensus so that our rich Karewas do not fall prey to unplanned and undesirable construction activities.
Peerzada Aarif
[email protected]
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