Drowned by Greed: Jammu and Kashmir’s Man-Made Flood Disaster

 

Tariq Bhat/Smriti Senha 

Jammu and Kashmir lies in ruins, battered by torrential rains, flash floods, and landslides that have claimed countless lives and uprooted thousands. Nature’s fury is undeniable, but the true villain is human: decades of rampant encroachment, illegal construction, and brazen corruption, sanctioned by complicit authorities, have transformed a natural disaster into a man-made apocalypse. This is not just a flood—it’s a reckoning.

 

On 14 August 2025, a cloudburst obliterated Chositi village in Kishtwar along the Machail Mata pilgrimage route. The ensuing flash flood swept away over 67 lives, left 200 missing, and injured 300 others, turning a sacred journey into a scene of horror. Days later, on 25 August, Jammu city was deluged with 190.4 mm of rainfall in a single day—the second-highest August downpour in a century. The monsoon’s relentless assault triggered landslides, shattered roads, and severed rail links, claiming at least 41 lives, including 34 pilgrims on the Vaishno Devi route.

 

 

 

 

The government’s response—₹6 lakh ex-gratia for victims’ families and ₹10 crore for relief—feels like a hollow gesture to those sifting through the rubble of their homes and lives. Band-aid solutions cannot mask the rot that fueled this tragedy.

 

Environmentalists and activists lay bare a chilling truth: Jammu and Kashmir’s rivers, wetlands, and floodplains have been strangled by illegal constructions, often bankrolled by bribes and political clout. The evidence is damning:

Pahalgam’s Pillaging: Over 500 hotels, guesthouses, and shops have sprouted illegally in ecologically fragile zones, flouting court orders and environmental laws. Forged permits, secured through payoffs to local officials, have turned this pristine valley into a concrete jungle.
Sonmarg’s Scandal: A judicial ban on construction within 100 meters of waterways lies in tatters as luxury resorts and commercial complexes choke the Sindh River, built with the wink-and-nod of corrupt officials.

 

 

 

 

Jhelum’s Desecration: Encroachment drives along the Jhelum River have demolished 412 illegal structures, 301 walls, and over 3 lakh trees, exposing a decades-long land grab orchestrated by a nexus of builders and bureaucrats.
Srinagar’s Dying Wetlands: Hokersar, Haigam, and Shallabugh wetlands—once nature’s flood shields—have shrunk by nearly 40% due to siltation, illegal occupation, and urban sprawl. Hokersar, once a 13.5 sq km sanctuary, is now a choked, shrinking relic.
Corruption’s Latest Stain: In South Kashmir, nine individuals, including five irrigation department officials, were chargesheeted for seizing state land to build a petrol pump and commercial complex. This is merely the tip of a corrupt iceberg, with land mafias and officials colluding across the region.
Gulmarg’s Grief Illegal constructions in this eco-sensitive zone have encroached on forest land, with resorts and guesthouses built under the guise of “tourism development,” further destabilizing the region’s fragile ecosystem.

 

 

 

 

“This is no natural disaster—it’s a crime scene orchestrated by greed,” declared a leading environmentalist. “We’ve buried floodplains under concrete, choked rivers with debris, and sold our future for bribes. Corruption has drowned Jammu and Kashmir as much as the floods.”

 

 

 

 

 

The 2014 Kashmir floods, which killed over 300 and inflicted ₹1 lakh crore in damages, were a warning ignored. Successive governments have allowed builders and their political patrons to flout regulations, turning the Jhelum and Tawi rivers into death traps. A 2023 Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board report revealed that 70% of constructions along the Jhelum violate environmental norms, yet enforcement is a cruel joke.

 

 

 

 

In 2024, the collapse of a ₹50-crore bridge in Ramban district—barely months after its inauguration—laid bare the rot of shoddy construction and alleged kickbacks to contractors. Similarly, a 2023 audit exposed substandard materials used in a ₹30-crore flood protection bund along the Tawi, which crumbled during this year’s deluge, amplifying the destruction. These are not isolated failures but symptoms of a system rotten to its core.

 

To end this cycle of devastation, experts demand immediate, uncompromising action:

Demolish the Illegal: Raze every unauthorized structure on rivers, wetlands, and floodplains, sparing no one, no matter their influence.
Prosecute complicit officials and builders in public trials, sending a clear message that betrayal of public trust will face severe consequences.Restore Hokersar, Haigam, and Shallabugh through aggressive desilting and anti-encroachment drives, reclaiming nature’s flood defenses.Construct roads, bridges, and homes to withstand extreme weather, with independent audits to ensure quality and transparency. Deploy state-of-the-art weather forecasting and early warning systems to save lives before disaster strikes.

 

 

 

The floods ravaging Jammu and Kashmir are not nature’s whim—they are the bitter harvest of greed, negligence, and betrayal. Every hotel on a riverbank, every wetland suffocated by concrete, every bribe that silenced accountability has led to this moment of reckoning. The region’s rivers, once its lifeblood, have been weaponized by a corrupt system that prioritizes profit over people.

 

 

 

 

Jammu and Kashmir cannot afford another cycle of destruction. The government must act with iron resolve to dismantle this nexus of corruption, restore ecological balance, and rebuild with integrity. The question is not whether the region can recover—it’s whether its leaders have the courage to uproot the rot within. Failure to act will condemn future generations to drown in the same floods of failure.