Kashmir real estate NRI - Kashmir- Amorous glances from Goigam to GulmargAhmad Kashmiri Kashmir is pe

While the title of this article mentions "Kashmir real estate NRI," the content focuses on a different, yet equally vital, aspect of Kashmir: its breathtaking natural beauty, unique geography, and rich biodiversity, particularly its medicinal and aromatic plants. This piece serves as an urgent call to action for the preservation of Kashmir's natural treasures against the backdrop of rapid, often unplanned, development.

Kashmir's Unique Natural Heritage

Kashmir, often called a natural treasure, possesses a peculiar and captivating geography. Beyond its social and political landscape, its inherent beauty and distinctive topography have always drawn admiration, requiring no artificial enhancements. Development, therefore, must proceed cautiously, never at the expense of preserving this pristine natural environment.

It's a well-established fact that Kashmir's topography, especially in Tangmarg tehsil, is ideal for cultivating a wide variety of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs). Some of these, like Taxus, Podophylum, Dioscorea, and Zera Kuth, are renowned internationally. The rose from Tangmarg tehsil, for instance, is celebrated worldwide for its medicinal value and exquisite aroma.

The Untapped Potential of Medicinal Plants

Cultivating MAPs on a larger scale in Kashmir could unlock new avenues for research and development. Such initiatives would facilitate real-time analysis and foster the growth of high-potential MAPs. The existing field station of the Regional Research Laboratory at Yariwan Tangmarg could provide crucial technical support for these projects. Nallah Ferozpora, already a rich repository of unexplored MAPs, would greatly benefit from such an establishment, synergizing researchers' efforts to open new vistas in the field.

Currently, local farmers are often hesitant to grow these plants due to a lack of awareness and insufficient marketing opportunities. However, recent years have seen a tremendous surge in global interest in plant-based drugs, pharmaceuticals, perfumery, cosmetics, aroma compounds for food flavors and fragrances, and natural colors. There's a clear trend towards adopting plant-based products, driven by concerns over the cumulative effects of antibiotics and synthetics.

While most available plant material comes from natural sources like forests and wastelands, their availability is declining due to increasing land use for food crops, deforestation, and indiscriminate exploitation. Simultaneously, demand for both internal use and export is rising, necessitating large-scale cultivation. Introducing these crops into the country's cropping system would not only meet industrial demands but also help maintain consistent quality, potency, and chemical composition. Since these crops are new to many growers, a lack of scientific cultivation knowledge often leads to hesitation, even among interested individuals.

Plants have been a vital source of medicine since the dawn of human civilization. Despite significant advancements in allopathic medicine during the 20th century, plants remain a major source of drugs in both modern and traditional medicine systems worldwide. Approximately one-third of all pharmaceuticals, including those derived from fungi and bacteria, are of plant origin, with over 60% being plant-based.

Threats to Kashmir's Ecological Balance

A serious concern has emerged with the advent of large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the railway line, within the valley. Many issues have arisen due to hasty and seemingly unplanned government initiatives. As work on the railway project began, the valley's geographic wealth—its small, segregated mountains and hillocks—suffered immense damage. Natural disasters like earthquakes might not have caused such havoc to these beautiful and balanced landforms.

This "Paradise on Earth" is losing its charm daily, a consequence of both historical neglect and current ignorance. The question remains: why were these beautiful mountains leveled and bulldozed merely to fill railway tracks? Wouldn't it have been more synergistic to dredge rivers and streams—first, to provide material for the railway tracks, and second, to protect flood-prone areas?

While concerned departments and agencies may be busy with paperwork, making grand claims about protecting natural resources, assets, caves, and mountains, and perhaps even drawing extra allowances for their preservation, the ground reality is lamentable. It seems the government underestimates the long-term consequences, prioritizing the railway's completion by a specific date, even if it means compromising Kashmir's natural integrity. Furthermore, the rapid, often unnoticed, conversion of paddy land (Aabi Awal) into "paradox-land" is quickly turning paradise into a less desirable landscape.

Preserving the Scenic Srinagar-Gulmarg Highway

The world-famous tourist destination of Gulmarg extends beyond its immediate golf courses, gondolas, and hotels. The elegant jurisdiction of Gulmarg truly begins from Goigam village near Magam town. The importance and tourist appeal of the Srinagar-Gulmarg highway are immense, often highlighted in international books, films, and media.

The "amorous glances" from Goigam to Gulmarg encompass the paddy fields flanking both sides of the highway, streams and streamlets running parallel to it, springs alongside the highway at Chichilora, Gokhama, and Raram, and the horizon-defining hillock locally known as Lolepur-Wudar. The marvelous hillside scenery from Drurooo to Tangmarg on the right, and the amusing downhill views from the left of the same range, along with the glorious downstream flow of irrigation canals (Kohls) like Babul, Tilgam, Chukar, Nihalpur, Yaal, and Lolepur, adventurously capture visitors' attention. This natural, heavenly scene cannot be artificially replicated, nor can it be fully expressed in words.

A Call to Action for Sustainable Preservation

To preserve our invaluable assets—our flora, fauna, springs, streams, forests, hills, and hillocks—we must awaken to this awareness immediately. This requires coordinated effort and strict enforcement of existing regulations.

• The Revenue department must rigorously enforce laws prohibiting construction on cultivable and paddy land. Without this, the glory of the Srinagar-Gulmarg Highway could vanish within a few years, replaced by pollution instead of pleasant air.
• The Tourism department must ensure the originality of the area and prevent the bulldozing of hillocks that support imaginary horizons and balance the ecology and environment.
• The original tracks, shapes, and sizes, even the natural flow, of streams, Kohls, and streamlets must be preserved, even if they need to be shifted slightly.
• No construction of houses or commercial establishments should be allowed, even on barren land, alongside the highway up to the distance of sight.
• Stone crushers from Nallah-Ferozpora should be relocated to more distant areas to ensure environmental comfort and a healthy atmosphere.
• Construction on the proposed Kunzer-Chanpora bridge should commence without further delay to restore the area's scenic glory.

In conclusion, the Revenue, Tourism, R&B, RD, PHE, and Gulmarg Development Authority must awaken and coordinate their efforts to address this grim scenario immediately. Delaying action will lead to irreversible damage. Kashmir has the potential to become a global leader in natural medicine; let us preserve every aspect of its natural wealth, not just its fertile land. It is time to act now.