SRINAGAR: Environmental activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat has urged the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to hold the Budgam administration accountable for alleged environmental degradation caused by illegal and unscientific riverbed mining in the Sukhnag River, arguing that the Joint Committee constituted by the Tribunal has failed to fix responsibility despite recording environmental damage.
In objections filed before the Principal Bench of the NGT in Original Application No. 1211 of 2024, Bhat has challenged the Joint Committee’s report dated May 6, 2026, contending that while the committee acknowledged damage to the river ecosystem, it did not quantify the environmental loss in monetary terms or identify officials responsible for permitting the mining activities.
The application relates to alleged illegal and unscientific riverbed mining carried out in the Sukhnag River in Budgam district using heavy machinery, including JCB excavators and L&T cranes, which, according to the applicant, has caused substantial environmental damage.
Bhat recalled that during earlier proceedings on September 24, 2025, government authorities had informed the Tribunal that no mining was being carried out under short-term permits, no fresh disposal permits had been issued and all mining operations in Sukhnag Permits Nallah had been stopped. The authorities had also claimed to have taken action against illegal mining by seizing 215 vehicles, recovering penalties amounting to ₹29.36 lakh and registering 26 FIRs against habitual offenders between January 2024 and August 2025. They had further informed the Tribunal that the Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, had constituted a committee to assess environmental damage caused by mining in Sukhnag Nallah.
According to the objections, the Tribunal subsequently constituted an independent Joint Committee comprising the Member Secretary of the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC), the Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Chandigarh, and a nominee of the G.B. Pant National Institute. The committee was specifically tasked with supervising the assessment of damage caused due to mining, short-term permits and illegal mining, while also identifying the persons responsible without showing favour or bias.
However, the applicant contends that the Joint Committee has not fulfilled this mandate. While environmental damage has been acknowledged, the report allegedly stops short of assessing the financial value of the ecological loss or fixing responsibility on any official.
One of the principal objections raised by Bhat concerns the issuance of Short Term Disposal Permits. He argues that records of the District Level Single Window Committee and previous replies filed by the government confirm that such permits had been issued for extraction and clearance of boulders from the Sukhnag River. According to the applicant, these permits themselves were illegal because they were granted without a valid Environmental Clearance (EC). He relies upon an NGT judgment delivered on January 16, 2026, in Aman Choudhury vs. Union of India (OA No. 176 of 2022), which, according to him, makes it clear that no short-term permits can be issued in the absence of a valid environmental clearance.
The applicant further alleges that despite the Tribunal specifically directing the committee to identify the persons responsible, the report failed to fix accountability on the Deputy Commissioner, Budgam (Respondent No. 2), whom he holds responsible for environmental loss caused by issuance of the short-term disposal permits. He argues that those responsible should be subjected to environmental liability and compensation under the “Polluter Pays Principle.”
Bhat has also referred to another direction issued by the Tribunal on February 26, 2026, requiring the expert committee to assess the losses suffered by Peerzada Rayees, whose trout fish farm was allegedly affected by mining activities. According to the objections, while the committee has quantified the direct loss of trout fish at ₹3 lakh, the applicant argues that this represents only the value of the dead fish and does not account for the overall damage suffered by the fish farm, which he says should be separately assessed and compensated.
In his final prayer before the Tribunal, Raja Muzaffar Bhat has sought directions for assessment of environmental compensation for the damage caused to the Sukhnag River due to the issuance of short-term disposal permits. He has requested the Tribunal to fix responsibility on Respondent No. 2 for the environmental loss, impose environmental liability for issuing permits allegedly in violation of environmental law, and direct assessment and payment of compensation to the trout fish farm of Peerzada Rayees.
The objections, filed through advocate Saurabh Sharma, are scheduled to be taken up by the National Green Tribunal on July 13, 2026.
