Col Satish Singh Lalotra (Retd)
slalotra4729@gmail.com
As 2025 fades into 2026, the year leaves behind a mosaic of triumphs and trials. True to its odd ending, 2025 stacked formidable odds-especially for Jammu and Kashmir-testing patience and perseverance and underscoring that progress stems from persistence, not perfection. Amid man-made and natural upheavals, this year-ender takes Daily Excelsior readers through the defining moments of the past 12 months that shaped lives across the UT of J&K.
POLITICAL LANDSCAPE
Political confrontations continued in 2025, the first year of the Omar Abdullah government, both in and outside the Legislative Assembly. Despite a shrill campaign for the statehood of J&K and cutting party affiliations, no forward movement took place on that front; New Delhi being firm that the right time will decide the change of status of the UT. J&K gets representation in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha. NC won 3 RS seats while BJP managed to get Sat Sharma elected to Rajya Sabha, but NC lost its prestigious Budgam seat to its arch rival PDP in Assembly by poll. BJP retained its Nagrota seat as Devyani Rana, carrying forward her father’s legacy, comprehensively won the Nagrota seat.
GOVERNANCE & LEGISLATION
The UT in the year 2025 saw major legislative achievements in the form of passing four key bills in October 2025: the ‘J&K Rent Regulation bill’, the ‘Panchayti Raj’ (amendment) bill, the ‘Cooperative Societies’ (amendment) bill & the ‘shops and establishments’ (regulation of employment and service conditions) bill, respectively. The chief minister’s development fund (CDF) was significantly reformed to allow for the removal of financial ceilings on infrastructure projects and to redirect funds towards social welfare and disaster response. Similarly, in late October 2025, reforms in CDF (Constituency Development Fund) were announced to make the CDF more flexible and powerful, enabling members of the legislative assembly to better address constituent needs and fund development projects. The budget for 2025-26 was passed with a target expenditure of Rs 1,066,410 crores, an increase of 3% from the previous year.
THE LONG SHADOW OF ‘PAHALGAM
ATTACK and OP SINDOOR’
Shifting strategy once again, terrorists gunned down 26 tourists in the picturesque valley of Baisaran meadows in April. India befittingly retaliated with Operation Sindoor. Pakistan faced the brunt of Indian armed forces’ firepower and pleaded for a ceasefire subsequently. Despite repeated efforts of Pakistan to inflict damage through drones, India suffered no major damage except for cowardly shell firing by Pakistan, which damaged civilian homes in Rajouri and Poonch. The security forces hunted down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam massacre in July under ‘Op Mahadev’.
NATURAL CALAMITIES
Heavy snowfall plus flash floods in March witnessed deaths and destruction at places like Udhampur, Kathua and Reasi. There were flash floods in Ramban also. The months of August and September witnessed major disaster as Kishtwar district saw flash floods and cloud bursts at Chositi village en route to the ‘Machail Yatra’ route, claiming 68 lives with hundreds missing/injured. Tragedy struck the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi track as a major landslide caused extensive damage with multiple deaths. Monsoon mayhem in the Jammu division played havoc with schools shut, homes flooded, and roads/bridges damaged across many districts.
Force (BSF) officers carry the coffin of Mohammed Imteyaz who attained martyrdom in Pakistan shelling.
A major water crisis occurred as the Sitlee and Manda water supply remained suspended for more than a month as water pipes got washed away in floods. The 4th Tawi bridge suffered extensive damage, and so did the banks adjoining the Press Club and Shiv Mandir on opposite sides of Tawi. The road and rail link of J&K remained snapped for days, and many trains are still suspended. The damage is so wide and huge that the administration is still in the process of assessment. Due to floods and landslides, National Highway remained closed for a pretty long time affecting transport and business activites.
PM’s SOJOURN
Starting 13 January 2025, the PM inaugurated the strategic Z-morph tunnel in Ganderbal’s Sonamarg area, saying, ‘Already ended “Dilli ki Doori”. Pushing the throttle of infra development in J&K, the PM again visited the UT in June 2025, a first after ‘OP Sindoor’, wherein on 06th June 2025 he inaugurated the Chenab as well as the Anji bridge. He flagged off the Vande Bharat train too on this occasion, linking the valley, thereby providing direct connectivity to Kashmir. Laying the foundation stone and inaugurating and dedicating to the national development projects worth over Rs 46,000 crore in Katra were the other highlights of Modi’s brief sojourn with J&K. Come September 2025, and J&K once again saw the PM amongst the rank and file of the UT meeting liberally those who were affected by the deluge caused by the unprecedented monsoons.
EXPONENTIAL PACE OF INFRA CUM DEVELOPMENT
Kashmir gets rail connectivity as the PM inaugurates the Vande Bharat Express to Kashmir. Not stopping at this only, a survey for double laning of the Udhampur-Baramulla-Srinagar railway line has been approved. The foundation stone was laid for the ‘Mata Vaishno Devi’ Institute of Medical Excellence at Katra in June 2025. In the field of higher education, a new campus for IIM, Jammu, was inaugurated. In the power sector, plans were expedited for major hydro projects (Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar, and Ratle) with a new hydropower policy notified to attract investments in the UT. The Lieutenant Governor laid the foundation stone for 350 of the proposed 1500 houses for families affected by recent natural calamities and unprovoked Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor in Jammu District, in collaboration with the NGO High-range Rural Development Society (HRDS India).
DARBAR MOVE RETURNS
The return of the annual Darbar move, stopped since 2021 by the Omar Abdullah government w.e.f. 31 October 2025, was welcomed by people of J&K. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated 56 newly constructed flats at Ahata Amar Singh and Sarwal, marking a significant step in strengthening housing infrastructure for government employees associated with the Darbar Move.
terror attack in Jammu.
TOURISM
J&K tourism, the backbone of the UT’s economy, suffered extensively throughout the year. First, due to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, which saw the closure of major tourist destinations for security reasons. Many sites are still not open for tourists. The August/September monsoon fury witnessed road/rail link snapping. The first-time unprecedented closure of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine for weeks together due to weather was another tourism setback. The 17th Adventure Tour Operators Association of India convention in Srinagar is aimed at re-establishing the region as a prime tourist spot. J&K Vision Summit is another event focusing on the region’s future, politics, and public concerns.
J&K TOPS GALLANTRY AWARDS
In the fight against terrorism, J&K got the highest number of Gallantry awards, 172, with JKP alone getting 152. BSF, CRPF, Fire Service, and other forces’ personnel posted in J&K got the rest.
RED FORT BLAST – J&K LINKS EMERGE
The Jammu and Kashmir Police busted and averted a major white-collar terror plot with the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate in the NCR region. Several arrests were made, which included many doctors. However, one doctor panicked, which
conference in Srinagar
resulted in a suicide bomb blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, killing scores of people. The alleged suicide bomber was from Pulwama. In addition to the above, many doctors and a preacher hailing from J&K too were arrested in connection with this bomb blast.
DRUG MENACE, Law and Order
The alarming rise in the drug menace across J&K has been put under the category of ‘Public health and social emergency’. With more than 13.5 lakh people in the UT addicted to substance abuse and still counting, government and community response has to undergo a swift calibration to stymie this rise. JKP carried out major property demolition and seizure of drug peddlers. Some reasonable consignments were also seized from drug peddlers. Daylight incidents of murders,
robberies and thefts were witnessed in Jammu. Some got resolved, but these incidents in broad daylight are a matter of concern.
NH ACCIDENTS
With 16.6 deaths per 1 lakh population, J&K starkly exceeds the national average of 11 deaths per 1 lakh population. Last year’s trend of RTAs (road traffic accidents) in J&K continues with an estimated 6000 accidents and fatalities numbering more than 800. With winters already set
in and hilly, dilapidated roads no better, for many commuters the answer is tragically clear.
ACROSS THE ZOJILA
The frigid environs of Ladakh witnessed a Dogra leading the administrative setup with the appointment of Kavinder Gupta as the new LG. Major protests demanding ‘Ladakh statehood’ erupted in September. During these protests four person lost their lives. And Leh town remained under curfew for a few days. Meanwhile, the government’s push for all-weather connectivity is reshaping the region’s development, highlighted by the 298-km Nimu-Padam-Darcha road, the third and shortest year-round Manali-Leh route. ISRO’s LAMA initiative aims to balance development with environmental conservation. The Army has enabled high-speed mobile connectivity across some of the world’s most hostile
terrains. Opening Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Demchok to tourists signals a push for battlefield tourism, while the upgraded Mudh-Nyoma ALG is now a fully operational airbase in eastern Ladakh.
With 2025 having slipped into the recesses of our subconsciousness, let the lessons, howsoever bittersweet they may be, not deter us from the path of self-correction while
operation Sindoor.
convenes Assembly Session.
commenced from New Delhi to Kashmir.
welcoming the new year of 2026. Let the UT of J&K usher in 2026 with all the gusto a new beginning in life deserves. Here’s wishing all readers of Daily Excelsior a very happy new
year – 2026.
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