The risky path to growth

• The government’s plans to construct highways and develop satellite townships in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have sparked fear among locals, who fear these projects could disrupt the region’s ecological balance, displace communities, and alter the demographic and cultural fabric.

• In 2021, the government approved a semi-ring road project and acquired 900 acres of cultivated agricultural land for it, affecting districts like Budgam, Pulwama, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Bandipora, and Baramulla.

• The project will feature numerous infrastructure elements, including 290 culverts, two road over bridges, two flyovers, 10 major junctions, 26 minor junctions, and a toll plaza at the Narbal junction.

• J&K, predominantly an agrarian economy, has some of the smallest land holdings in the country, and the landowners have not been adequately compensated for the loss of their land.

• In May 2022, a moratorium on land transactions within 500 meters of the ring road was imposed, but in October 2024, the Housing Board announced plans for establishing 30 satellite townships along the semi-ring road.

• The unrestrained march of infrastructure development in the region is leading to ecological ruin and social displacement, causing the destruction of agricultural lands and orchards, eroding green cover, and accelerating soil erosion.

• J&K has 14.3 lakh farming households and an average landholding of just 0.25 hectares, contributing 80% of India’s temperate fruit production.

• The blind pursuit of urbanisation and the relentless push for building highways, railways, and satellite townships heightens the risk of more such disasters.