Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 12: The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) today flagged the establishment of a garbage dumping yard near the 252-million-year-old Guryul Ravine Fossil Park in Khonmoh area.
Calling it a grave threat to one of the world’s most important geological heritage sites, EPG said that the Guryul Ravine is internationally acknowledged by geologists, palaeontologists, and climate scientists as one of the most important Permian-Triassic boundary sites in the world.
“The fossil record here offers a rare glimpse into the ecological collapse and recovery phases that followed the mass extinction event. It serves as a natural laboratory for studying Earth’s climate history, mass extinctions, tectonic activity, and evolutionary processes,” it said.
These findings, EPG said, have been cited in international scientific journals and continue to attract global research interest, making the site not only a national treasure but a world heritage asset.
It stated that 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,” said EPG
More significantly, as per the EPG, the violation disregards binding directions of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, which had earlier directed the conservation of such sensitive and heritage-rich zones.
“Internationally renowned geoscientists had also expressed strong disapproval of mining activities in and around the site. Following this, the Central Government, under directions from the Prime Minister of India, imposed a complete ban on mining and other activities in and around the Fossil Park,” it said.
However, it noted, despite this, officials have chosen to vandalise the site by enclosing a large area as a garbage dumping site and constructing a garbage shed.
The group said that it 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,” saidj EPG and demanded that the dumping site must be dismantled without delay, and stringent legal action must be taken against those responsible for this gross violation.
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