Forests and mountains are nature's most powerful shields against a warming planet. Trees anchor the soil, moderate temperatures, absorb carbon and slow rainfall, allowing water to seep into the ground rather than rushing downslope as destructive floods. In Jammu and Kashmir, that protective cover is being steadily eroded by large-scale deforestation driven by major infrastructure projects, even as a rapidly warming atmosphere makes the consequences increasingly severe. Every monsoon, the region's valleys echo with the same grim news of cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods claiming lives that careful, accountable planning could have spared.
The scale of human loss in recent years tells a devastating story. In August 2025, two cloudbursts struck Chishoti village in Kishtwar during the Machail Mata pilgrimage, killing between 65 and 68 people. Days later, a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine claimed 32 pilgrims. In July 2026, flash floods in Poonch and Rajouri killed at least 23 people, including children swept away from their beds, destroyed hundreds of homes and submerged around 100 vehicles. These are not isolated accidents but recurring tragedies that underscore the growing vulnerability of the region.
The impact of global warming has significantly deepened this risk. The Western Himalayas are warming at nearly twice the average rate of the rest of India, and warmer air holds roughly seven per cent more moisture for every degree Celsius of warming, meaning monsoon rains now arrive in heavier and more destructive bursts. The Kolahoi Glacier has lost nearly a quarter of its area since 1962. A University of Kashmir study has identified five glacial lakes in the Kashmir Himalaya that are highly vulnerable to bursting and triggering floods, including Gangabal and Nundkol in Ganderbal district. A flood from Nundkol alone could damage 1,184 buildings, four bridges and a hydropower plant. Local villagers and shepherds have received no official warnings or evacuation advice, even as scientists continue to advocate regular monitoring, early warning systems and community preparedness. Kishtwar district alone is home to 197 glacial lakes that are expanding at an alarming rate as glaciers retreat, with the potential to release massive torrents with little or no warning.
Yet climate change alone cannot explain why the same valleys suffer the same fate year after year. The missing piece of this tragedy is the destruction of the very forests that once held these slopes together. Official records and RTI responses reveal the staggering scale of green cover lost to infrastructure projects. The Srinagar Ring Road, constructed between 2018 and 2021, resulted in the felling of more than 1.10 lakh trees, including chinar, apple, walnut, pear, mulberry and plum. The Jammu Ring Road added thousands more. Together, both ring roads accounted for the loss of over 1.18 lakh trees between 2018 and 2025. Kashmir's iconic chinar, once numbering around 42,000 in the 1970s, has declined to approximately 35,000 today, despite enjoying legal protection as the region's Royal Tree under the Jammu and Kashmir Preservation of Specified Trees Act, 1969. Between 2021 and 2023, Jammu and Kashmir lost a significant portion of its green cover, a decline that environmentalists directly associate with the measurable rise in temperatures recorded across both Jammu and Srinagar.
The ongoing Jammu–Katra Expressway, a key segment of the 670-kilometre Delhi–Amritsar–Katra corridor being executed by the National Highways Authority of India, deserves particular attention. An RTI response obtained by Jammu-based activist Raman Sharma confirms that 21,483 trees are being removed for this single project — 11,946 trees in the Jammu Forest Division along the Kunjwani–Sidhra section, 1,781 along the Sidhra–Ban Toll section, and 7,756 across the ecologically sensitive Domel–Katra stretch in the Reasi Forest Division. Of these, more than 8,400 trees have already been felled, while 13,332 more have been sanctioned for phased removal. Beyond the tree count, the project has diverted over 716 kanals — approximately 36.25 hectares — of forest land for non-forestry purposes, permanently altering terrain that once helped stabilise fragile Himalayan slopes.
The cumulative impact of highway and expressway projects is substantial. The expansion of the Srinagar–Baramulla Highway has led to the felling of hundreds of age-old native trees, including dozens of chinars. The four-laning of the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway, the widening of the Srinagar–Qazigund Expressway — which alone resulted in the removal of 75 chinar trees in Pulwama and Anantnag — and the Jammu Ring Road have collectively added hundreds more ancient trees to the tally. Forest fires, accelerated by the combined effects of deforestation and climate stress, have compounded the loss. Between November 2023 and June 2024 alone, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 4,156 forest fire incidents, averaging 17 fires every day.
The manner in which these projects have been executed has caused damage that extends well beyond the loss of trees. Heavy machinery and controlled blasting have cut through fragile hillsides across Kishtwar, Doda, Reasi and the Pir Panjal range. Blasting not only removes rock but also weakens the internal stability of slopes, creating fractures that monsoon waters can later exploit, often with devastating consequences. Excavated muck and debris, instead of being scientifically disposed of, have frequently been dumped along riverbanks and riverbeds, narrowing natural waterways and increasing the likelihood of flooding during heavy rainfall. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has also expanded rapidly through fragile mountain terrain, often outpacing environmental assessment. Altered stream courses, disrupted aquifers, inadequate drainage arrangements and insufficient slope stabilisation have further heightened the vulnerability of downstream communities.
Jammu and Kashmir's expanding road network has undoubtedly created significant opportunities for tourism and economic growth, generating livelihoods across hospitality, transport and local services. However, this expansion is also contributing to an environmental challenge that threatens the very landscapes that attract visitors. Increased tourist movement has led to a sharp rise in the number of vehicles plying the region's roads. Lakhs of vehicles emit carbon dioxide every day, adding to greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to rising temperatures. The solution lies not in choosing between development and conservation but in ensuring that economic growth and environmental protection complement rather than undermine each other. That balance is neither impossible nor unprecedented; it is simply missing from many of the decisions being taken today.
The government must now move beyond rescue and relief. Satellite-based glacial lake sensors, developed in collaboration with ISRO scientists and linked directly to district control rooms, should be installed to provide at least a 30-minute evacuation window for vulnerable villages. An independent ecological audit should precede any further tree felling above 1,000 metres. All road projects, including those under PMGSY, must undergo mandatory water-flow and soil-stability assessments before construction begins. Tunnel-first and elevated-bridge designs — now standard practice in countries such as Switzerland, Japan, the United States and China — should replace extensive slope-cutting in geologically sensitive areas, while the latest international technologies for mountain road construction should be actively explored and adopted.
Green public transport on major tourist routes could become a cornerstone of sustainable tourism. Electric buses, taxis and shuttle fleets powered by renewable energy, supported by well-planned parking facilities and rest areas, should be the primary mode of transport to destinations such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Katra. Zermatt in Switzerland demonstrates that restricting combustion-engine vehicles while maintaining high tourist satisfaction is entirely achievable.
Large-scale plantation drives using native species such as deodar cedar and Himalayan oak along major roads would help reduce emissions while enhancing the region's scenic beauty. Community-led waste management, biodegradable packaging and mandatory water recycling at commercial establishments would further safeguard rivers and ecosystems. Establishing a dedicated Sustainable Tourism Authority, bringing together the tourism, environment, transport and forest departments under a single framework, is essential for long-term and coordinated action.
An emergency plantation drive of five lakh native trees — including deodar cedar, Himalayan oak and other indigenous species — funded through a dedicated Mountain Disaster Prevention Fund, separate from post-disaster relief budgets, should begin without delay. Their survival and maintenance must be ensured by government agencies and local panchayats for at least five years. The ban on illegal sand and stone mining must be strictly enforced. Wetlands, including the critically diminished Wular Lake, should be restored to their original dimensions. Constructions along riverbanks and floodplains across Jammu and Kashmir must be identified and removed with genuine political and administrative commitment, while displaced residents should be rehabilitated with subsidised land and livelihood support. Forest land must be cleared of illegal concrete structures without exception. River channels should be dredged and desilted not as one-time exercises but as part of a sustained annual policy.
Jammu and Kashmir's mountains have not failed their people. Cleared forests, blasted hillsides, choked rivers, encroached floodplains and a warming climate have left them increasingly vulnerable. The choice before the administration is stark: continue on a path of short-term development that extracts an annual toll in lives and livelihoods, or embrace a model of sustainable development that protects both people and the mountains they depend upon. The people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve mountains that safeguard them, not landscapes made increasingly fragile by human intervention. The time for excuses has long passed. The time for ecological restoration and accountable development is now.