The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has written to the Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Mr Syeed Fakhrudin, seeking urgent intervention to stop ongoing and reported unauthorised construction activities within the Aru Valley and adjoining areas falling inside the Aru–Overa Wildlife Sanctuary, a notified eco-sensitive and no-construction zone.
In the letter, the EPG Convenor, Faiz Bakshi has described Aru Valley as “a high-altitude and ecologically fragile landscape, notified as an eco-sensitive and no-construction zone, where any construction, road-laying or terrain alteration without prior statutory clearances amounts to a serious violation of environmental and wildlife protection laws.”
Bakshi has stated that EPG has received credible field inputs indicating that unauthorised activities are currently underway inside the Aru Wildlife Sanctuary. “We have received credible field inputs indicating that unauthorised activities, including unapproved foundations, slope cutting, earth filling and damage to natural vegetation, are currently underway within the Aru Wildlife Sanctuary,” the letter said.
Warning of the ecological consequences, the EPG Convenor noted, “Such interventions directly threaten wildlife movement, disrupt natural water channels, destabilise fragile slopes and pose the risk of irreversible ecological degradation in an already sensitive Himalayan ecosystem.”
The letter also draws attention to the construction of a fresh road inside the Overa Wildlife Sanctuary at Mamal, Pahalgam, within the Aru–Overa Wildlife Sanctuary limits. “It is a matter of serious concern that a fresh road has been constructed inside the Overa Wildlife Sanctuary up to a dead end, despite the fact that similar construction at the same location had earlier been stopped following official intervention,” the Convenor wrote.
Raising questions over regulatory compliance, the EPG Convenor stated, “At present, we are not aware of any statutory approvals, wildlife clearances or mitigation measures having been obtained or followed by the executing agency, nor of any vetting by the Wildlife Department in this case.”
Beyond environmental damage, the letter cautioned that such activities could undermine local livelihoods. “Unauthorised construction in Aru Valley not only threatens its fragile ecology but also undermines the eco-tourism-based livelihood of local communities, which depends entirely on the preservation of the area’s pristine landscape,” it said.
Seeking immediate administrative action, the EPG Convenor has requested the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag to halt all ongoing construction and allied activities within the Aru and Overa Wildlife Sanctuary areas and to order a time-bound joint inspection. “We respectfully request the district administration to immediately halt all ongoing construction and allied activities within the Aru and Overa Wildlife Sanctuary areas and to order a time-bound joint inspection to assess the extent of violations and environmental damage,” the letter stated.
Concluding the communication, the Convenor stressed the urgency of the matter, saying, “Timely intervention at this stage is essential to prevent irreversible harm and to reaffirm the administration’s commitment to environmental governance and the rule of law.”