The disclosure before the NGT that as many as 256 illegal occupants have been identified in just two Khasras along the Tawi River in Jammu is both alarming and telling. If such a large number of encroachers exist on a small patch of land, one can only imagine the scale of rampant occupation all along the riverbanks. Yet, despite clear orders from the NGT, the concerned authorities -have failed to implement directives either in letter or in spirit. Their reluctance to share relevant records and file affidavits amounts to a blatant disregard of both environmental governance and judicial oversight. It is a reflection of a deeper malaise – institutional indifference to the health of the river that sustains Jammu and safeguards it against recurring floods. Known as the “lifeline of Jammu”, the Tawi River has become a victim of unchecked encroachment, untreated sewage inflows, and administrative apathy.
Encroachments do not mushroom overnight. They are the result of prolonged silence and complicity of the very agencies entrusted with protecting state land and river floodplains. The revenue department, the JDA, and the District Administration all looked the other way while encroachers slowly occupied prime riverbank and plains’ land. Now, when the NGT demands accountability, these very institutions are adopting dilly-dallying tactics, withholding action taken reports and failing to disclose the full extent of the menace. What is even more baffling is that some portions of the encroached land have already been transferred to the JDA itself, which avoided even appearing before the NGT.
The costs of inaction are not merely environmental but human. Recent floods along the Tawi banks have played havoc, damaging houses, destroying household property, and endangering human lives. The science is clear: when natural floodplains are obstructed with illegal construction, rivers reclaim their course during extreme rainfall events, often with devastating consequences. Every new encroachment on the Tawi poses a potential death trap for nearby residents.
Encroachments are only one side of the crisis. The other is unchecked pollution. The NGT has already flagged that the 30 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant at Bhagwati Nagar, despite meeting most parameters, is failing to eliminate faecal coliform bacteria from human waste that pose grave health risks. But STP is not the lone culprit. Numerous nullahs from Nagrota, Panjtirthi, Peer Kho, Gujjar Nagar and beyond empty untreated city sewage directly into the river. On the opposite bank, the situation is no better, with inflows right from Udhampur to Jammu contaminating the Tawi waters. After spending more than Rs 150 crore on the city’s sewerage project over the past decade and a half, Jammu still lacks a functional system capable of preventing sewage from polluting its main water source. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that this same polluted water is lifted and supplied to the city’s population through schemes like Sitlee, Boria and Dhonthly. In effect, to some extent, citizens are being served contaminated drinking water.
All of these points point to one thing: governance has failed at multiple levels. The District Administration, the JDA, municipal bodies, and even pollution control authorities have shirked their responsibilities. Instead of proactive enforcement, they respond only when pulled up by courts or tribunals. Even then, their responses are evasive. In environmental matters, delay is not a neutral act – it is an active contributor to degradation. The longer the authorities delay action, the greater the encroachments, the more entrenched the interests, and the deadlier the risks for the public.
The NGT has now set a six-week deadline for affidavits from the district administration of Jammu and the JDA Vice Chairman. It must be used to launch a genuine campaign to reclaim floodplains, remove encroachments, and strengthen sewage treatment infrastructure. STPs are not cosmetic utilities to appease environmental compliance checklists; they are essential safeguards for modern urban life. Encroachments are not harmless land grabs; they are disasters in waiting. If timely action is not taken, nature will ultimately reclaim its due space, and the damages will be beyond imagination.
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