The Biz Reporter
Srinagar: The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) expresses serious concern and deep anguish over the establishment of a large illegal garbage dumping yard near the Guryul Ravine Fossil Park located at Khonmoh, on the outskirts of Srinagar. The act not only constitutes a grave ecological violation but also endangers a globally significant geo-heritage site that dates back 252 million years. Of critical scientific importance, the site is the only known geological formation that preserves definitive evidence of the world’s first recorded tsunami, embedded within its ancient sedimentary layers.
The Guryul Ravine is globally acknowledged by geologists, palaeontologists, and climate scientists as one of the most important Permian-Triassic boundary sites in the world. The fossil record at Guryul Ravine offers a rare glimpse into the ecological collapse and recovery phases that followed the extinction. It serves as a natural laboratory for studying Earth’s climate history, mass extinctions, tectonic activity, and evolutionary processes.
What makes Guryul Ravine particularly unique is the presence of tsunami-generated sedimentary structures, identified and documented by geoscientists, that confirm the earliest evidence of a massive oceanic disturbance triggered during the Permian-Triassic transition. These findings have been cited in international scientific journals and attract global research interest, making the site not only a national but also a world heritage asset.
The establishment of a waste dumping ground in such close proximity to this ecologically and scientifically sensitive area is a shocking act of environmental vandalism. It directly violates several key environmental protection laws, including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Solid Waste Management Rules. 2016. More significantly, it disregards the binding directions of the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, which had earlier directed the conservation of such sensitive and heritage-rich zones. Significantly, strong disapproval of the mining activities in and around this site were made by Internationally renowned Geo-scientists following which the Central Government on the directions of the Prime Minister of India completely banned mining and other activities in and around Fossil Park. However, despite that officials have chosen to vandalise the site by enclosing a huge area as a garbage dumping site and constructing a garbage shed.
The Environmental Policy Group is dismayed that despite repeated warnings and appeals over the years, this globally important site remains neglected, unprotected, and now under threat of irreversible damage. The illegal dumping poses an immediate risk to the fossil beds, fragile sedimentary layers, and the overall ecological balance of the region. If not stopped, this negligence could destroy one of the few remaining accessible records of Earth’s most dramatic evolutionary moment.
EPG calls upon all concerned departments and authorities, including the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee, the District Administration Srinagar, the Department of Geology and Mining, the Department of Wildlife Protection, and the Department of Rural Development, to immediately take cognisance of this illegal act. The dumping site must be dismantled without any delay, and stringent legal action must be taken against those responsible for this gross violation of environmental and court mandates.
Conservationists, researchers, legal experts, and civil society has expressed collective outrage at the violation of laws and disregard for a site of such unparalleled natural heritage. The Environmental Policy Group confirms that it will be filing a petition before the Hon’ble High Court once again to seek urgent intervention, enforcement of existing orders, and enhanced legal safeguards to protect the site from further degradation.
The EPG makes an earnest and urgent appeal to the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha, the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mr. Omar Abdullah , and the Chief Secretary to intervene at the highest level and issue immediate directions for corrective action. The Group further requests that the Guryul Ravine Fossil Park and its surrounding buffer zone be officially declared as a No-Dumping Zone and notified as an Eco-Sensitive Area under relevant provisions of environmental and heritage protection law.
Guryul Ravine is not merely a local landmark but a global geological monument of irreplaceable value. It is a living classroom for students, a research base for scientists, and a timeless reminder of the Earth’s resilience. Protecting it is not only a legal obligation but a moral responsibility that we collectively owe to future generations.
