Bagh-e-Buchroo is a small hamlet located on the outskirts of Srinagar city and falls under the territorial jurisdiction of central Kashmir’s Budgam district. The village is located just below the Srinagar international airport and can be easily seen from the left window of the aircraft while it lands on the airport tarmac. Can we believe that wild leopards who earlier used to be seen in dense jungles of Pir Panchaal have been frequently visiting villages located near the Srinagar airport in search of food? This is not a fairy tale, only a week back during the intervening night of May 30th and 31st around three leopards, while infiltrating into the village in search of food attacked a flock of sheep in Bagh-e-Buchroo which left as many as two dozen sheep dead and around a dozen severely wounded. The local residents say that leopards have made the local Karewa known as “Damodar Wodder” as their abode.
Migration of Pir Panchaal leopards :
Around a dozen leopards whose habitat until recently used to be Pir Panchaal jungles in Doodh Ganga forest range (Yusmarg and its adjoining forest area) have migrated from their natural habitat as the Yusmarg jungles have been infiltrated by human population. During the construction of hydro power project at Branwar a large number of trees were felled down, heavy duty machines, bulldozers, earth movers and JCBs went deep into the jungles of Yusmarg which became a threat to the privacy of these wild animals. From the last 25 years the local timber smugglers have been cutting and smuggling Kail and Fir trees (Pinus family) and this has turned many forest areas into a barren land that earlier belonged to bears, leopards, musk deers etc. In addition to that, hundreds of acres of forest land has been converted into apple and pear orchards in Kellar, Shoipan, Yusmarg and other villages located near Pir Panchaal mountains. In view of all this where shall the Pir Panchaal leopards go in search of food? We have attacked and destroyed their habitats and they are now killing our children, cattle and sheep. Irony is that these wild animals have now made Srinagar outskirts as their abode.
Construction of Mughal Road :
The Mughal road project is indeed a historic step towards connecting Rajouri and Poonch districts with Kashmir. The Mughal road leading from Shopian to Poonch or even Rajouri has made travel to the Pir Panchaal belt of Jammu region so easy and comfortable that a person from Srinagar can travel to Poonch and can return back the same day. But there are many negative aspects of this road project as well. First of all the Herpora wild life reserve has been directly affected as the road from Shopian to Poonch and Rajouri was carved through this area, abode to different kind of wildlife species. Due to continuous movement of vehicular traffic, and damage caused to forests, the wild animals in Herpora, especially the leopards have now been moving towards other areas of Shopian and Kellar belt. Similarly the leopards which used to live around Poshana and its adjoining forests across the Pir Panchaal pass are coming down towards Bufliaz and Surankot in Poonch district as their natural habitats has been infiltrated by the human population and vehicular traffic .
Heavy Military concentration :
There is huge presence of armed forces around strategic locations in the various mountainous and forest areas of Kashmir; and Pir Panchaal is one of such mountainous range where large number of troops are present. The huge military concentration in Gulmarg sector and fencing of the Line of Actual Control (LoC) are also important factors that leopards present in Pir Panchaal mountains have been coming down to plains and attacking human population. The fencing on the (LoC) has restricted the movement of wild animals from both the sides of LoC and now these animals have been on a killing spree in both parts of Kashmir. There have been many incidents of leopard and bear attacks in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, and even Bagh districts located across the LoC.
Tosamaidan filed firing range :
The Tosamaidan field firing range located also under the foothills of Pir Panchaal mountains in Budgam district too became a victim of heavy military presence. In addition to the destruction of forests and environment in this area, the wildlife population in the Tosamaidan forests and meadows has been under great threat. How can we expect to have a wildlife in an area which witnesses artillery shelling from years together? I would not only blame the Army for destruction of Tosamaidan forests, but the local population too is involved in timber smuggling from the last many decades due to various reasons. Poverty and unemployment are the main factors of youth getting involved in illegal timber. The deforested areas such as Suthaharan, Habbar, Lassipora have witnessed many incidents of man animal conflicts from the last many years and as the Government plans to shift Tosamaidan field firing range to some other area of the state, it is hoped that this firing range be shifted to such a place which is uninhabited and a barren land. Some areas of Ladakh are most suitable for the same.
Conclusion :
Today is world environment day and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced that the theme of this year's World Environment Day will be Small Island Developing States or "SIDS." Island nations around the world are particularly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters and rising seas. Kashmir is not an Island but a small beautiful valley where the environment which includes water bodies, glaciers, wildlife are under direct threat from human beings. Let us take a pledge to save the fragile environment of our state by protecting the forests, wildlife, agriculture land etc. Let the military concentration in both parts of Kashmir be also brought down. We need a lot to learn much from many Island nations, which have overcome a number of environmental problems with only limited resources, why cannot we follow these nations and protect the environment of Kashmir ?
