Civil society group proposes water security commission amid concerns over shrinking waterbodies in Kashmir

Flagging the issue of retreating glaciers and shrinking waterbodies in Kashmir, the Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC) — a civil society body comprising retired bureaucrats and judges — on Friday (June 26, 2026) proposed the creation of a Chief Minister-led Commission on water security and ecological resilience, along with a mission to monitor glaciers, springs, and watersheds.

“We declare the period 2026-2035 as the Decade of Water Security and Ecological Restoration in J&K. We call upon the Government, Legislature, local institutions, academia, the private sector, civil society and every citizen to work together to restore and protect the natural systems,” reads the Srinagar Declaration, a policy paper prepared in the wake of warnings by the experts over ecological degradation, declining forest covers due to expansion of roadways and shrinking glaciers in Kashmir.

In a 10-point proposal, the GCC has proposed a CM-headed Commission on Water Security and Ecological Resilience; water security strategy based on integrated river basin management; climate risk action plans; glacier, spring and watershed monitoring mission; restoration of major wetlands, floodplains and river corridors; establishment of a climate and ecological risk observatory with a real-time environmental dashboard etc.

It also pitched for a dedicated J&K Climate and Environment Fund; city water action plans; the integration of ecological carrying capacity and climate resilience into every major public investment and infrastructure project.

“Due to retreating of all our glaciers, discharge in our rivers, nullahs and streams is likely to decrease further leading to acute shortage of drinking water and water for irrigation of crops. All the waterbodies including our rivers, lakes are in a bad situation, silted and encroached,” said Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, retired IAS officer and chairman of the GCC. 

‘Environmental emergency’

A recent Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) report stated that the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir has lost a staggering 70% of wetlands and waterbodies since the 1960s. Of the 697 lakes recorded in 1967, 315 have completely vanished covering an area of 1537 hectares. “This is an environmental emergency,” said Mr. Ganai.

He said the Forest Amendment Act of 2023 has been a setback. “It has allowed all types of security infrastructure in forest areas within 100 kms of Line of Control or international border without an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and formal environmental clearance. Other important environmental concerns are incessant road and tunnel construction activities in the hills and mountainous areas without reference to EIA,” said Mr. Ganai.

He said the bad news was that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given clearance to felling of nearly 2.8 million trees on forest land during the last three years. Large-scale infrastructure development in hills and mountains will destabilise mountain features, as has been seen in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” Mr. Ganai said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Karan Singh, who served J&K as Sadar-e-Riyasat and Governor in the past, also raised alarm over the “unplanned infrastructure expansion in the Himalayas”.

“Roads and large-scale development projects in the Himalayan region had destabilised the mountain ecosystem. Excessive widening of highways and tunnelling had caused serious ecological damage. Why should tourists need four-lane roads?” said Mr. Singh, who also served as the Tourism Minister in 1967, and spoke during an event organised by the GCC.

On the Dal lake, Mr. Singh said the size of the waterbody was “reduced to nearly one-third of its original expanse over the decades”.