June 05 is observed as World Environment Day and governments, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, business groups join hands to make people aware about the This year, the spotlight is on plastic pollution. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message, has said that this year’s World Environment Day focuses on solutions to beat plastic pollution. And rightly so. Plastic pollution is choking our planet – harming ecosystems, well-being, and the climate. Plastic waste clogs rivers, pollutes the ocean, and endangers wildlife. Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, in his message on X, has said, “…let us rededicate ourselves to root out plastic pollution and work towards the cause of environmental protection and biodiversity conservation for the common good of humanity and a healthier planet for future generations.”
On this day awareness campaigns would be launched, seminars and different programmes would be held all over the world, J&K being no exception. However, have we, in J&K, ever though about the issue seriously. Our forest cover is shrinking, our water bodies are shrinking, our glaciers are melting, our air quality is deteriorating and both we the people and respective governments talk about environment only on World Environment Day. Take, for instance, Srinagar city, every nook and corner is dumped with garbage. The concerned authorities are yet to come up with scientific waste management system. See the condition of Dal lake. Billions of rupees have been spent on its conservation but has anything been achieved. It was spread over 2,547 hectares in 1971 and today it is just on almost 1600. Wular lake has been encroached upon, forest lands have been encroached upon and we and our respective governments watched silently.
In countryside, Kashmir Valley had abundant fresh water streams and rivers. Till late 80’s, people used to drink directly from these streams. Today, in some areas the streams have completely vanished and the ones that exist have turned into stinking drains. People dump all garbage particularly plastic waste into these streams and rivers. In 2008, J&K government banned polythene bags under the J&K Non-Biodegradable Material (Management, Handling and Disposal) Act, 2007. The ban remains confined to the papers only as no concrete steps were ever taken to enforcement the same.
To save the environment from further damage, the government, that be, and the public have to join heads and hands. The governments should take concrete steps for waste management and should launch a massive afforestation drive besides retrieving forest land from encroachers. People on their part need to wake up and develop a habit of keeping their surroundings clean not just their homes alone.
