There is something deeply troubling about watching institutions fail its most vulnerable citizens in plain sight. The ongoing saga of illegal mining in Jhajjar Nallah – spanning Karkyal, Jhajjar Kotli and Dansal – is not merely a local administrative lapse. It is a systemic failure of governance, accountability, and the basic duty of care that the state owes its people. The facts are damning in their clarity. Mining contractors are operating within 100 to 150 metres of critical water sources, when the law expressly forbids any activity within 500 metres of dug wells, tube wells, or motorable bridges. Nallah beds are being excavated to depths of seven to eight feet – more than double the permitted three-foot limit – using heavy machinery that rips through the riverbed with impunity. Dirty, slurry-laden water from stone crushers is being discharged back into the Nallah, contaminating the very supply upon which over 15,000 to 20,000 residents, SMVDU, Narayana Hospital, and a significant share of Katra’s population depend for drinking water through the scorching summer months.
What makes this particularly unconscionable is the catalogue of warnings that have gone unheeded. Former Sarpanches and Panches have lodged formal complaints. Villagers have knocked on the doors of the Tehsil administration and the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Yet the ground reality remains unchanged, bitter and unrelenting. The District Mineral Officer’s much-publicised visit resulted in the seizure of one machine – promptly returned to the crusher’s own munshi – and a penalty of Rs 4 lakh that remains unrecovered. Within 48 hours, another machine had resumed operations at the same site.
Across J&K, the consequences of unchecked riverbed mining are etched into the landscape. Bridges weakened. Roads undercut. Infrastructure that took years to build surrendered in months to a mining mafia that operates with breathtaking audacity, apparently emboldened by the complicity – or rank negligence – of the very officials mandated to stop them. The stakes this summer could not be higher. With tube wells already under stress and water tables dropping, the communities of Dansal, Karkyal and surrounding hamlets face genuine water insecurity if the Nallah’s integrity is further compromised. The administration and the Geology and Mining Directorate must move beyond token penalties and theatrical raids. Crush the illegal mining, cancel the licences, and prosecute the violators. If not, the next collapsed bridge – or the next community left high and dry – will be a crisis entirely of the Government’s own making.
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