‘The rebellion of the mountains’: Are we ignoring nature’s warnings?

Kounsar Bashir 

On Sunday morning, Mohammad Iqbal, a fruit vendor in Digdol village of Ramban, stepped out to arrange his wooden stall beside the Srinagar-Jammu highway. What he saw instead was the hillside above him slowly crumbling. “It was not a landslide,” he says. “It was like the mountain was melting. The hill just gave up.”

In minutes, large boulders and earth tumbled down, snapping electric poles, sweeping away vehicles, and burying a portion of the highway—again.

Three persons died, property worth millions was damaged.

At Kela Mor, the road has vanished — swallowed by repeated cave-ins along a 10-km stretch of the Banihal-Ramban section of the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

Livestock and property were swept away, and several vehicles left stranded as landslides tore through the region.

The 36-km stretch has become a symbol of destruction, bearing the full fury of the collapsing mountains.

This is not the first time Iqbal has seen this happen. “Every few weeks, the road disappears and reappears,” he says, gesturing to a stretch that has become a ghost of asphalt amid the falling hills.

Landslides are no longer seasonal — they’re constant.

Once considered a monsoon hazard, landslides in Ramban and the wider Chenab Valley have now become a year-round menace.

Ramban district has experienced a significant increase in landslides and shooting stone incidents in recent years, according to local reports and observations, highlighting the region’s growing vulnerability to such natural hazards.

Areas like Digdol, Panthiyal, and Mehar — sites of aggressive tunnel drilling and road expansion — have become hotspots of repeated collapses.

“Landslides here are no longer merely a result of rain or earthquakes. They are a consequence of constant slope destabilization due to road construction, tunnel blasting, and deforestation,” says an environmental expert from Jammu who wished to remain anonymous.

But it’s not just the hills that are falling — the ground is giving way too.

Land subsidence has become a parallel hazard in the region. In January 2024, more than 45 families were evacuated from Pernote village after deep cracks appeared in their homes and fields due to sudden land sinking. Similar incidents have been reported in Sangaldan, Gool, and parts of Batote.

The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)  has emphasized that unplanned development across Kashmir can have serious consequences.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Report (2021) audit report on the Prime Minister’s Development Package for Jammu Kashmir highlighted issues related to unplanned execution of infrastructure projects.

The report pointed out that several projects were undertaken without “proper planning and adherence” to environmental guidelines, leading to delays and cost overruns. “Such unplanned development activities can exacerbate the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters like landslides and floods,” the report pointed out.

“These are young mountains, still forming and adjusting,” says Dr G.M Bhat, a renowned geologist. “We cannot treat them like the Deccan plateau. The Himalayas remember every cut, every crack, and one day, they push back.”

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that restoration and relief efforts are underway. Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, he confirmed he would be personally visiting Ramban to assess the situation.

“I had sent the Deputy CM and local MLAs earlier. Relief is being arranged, and we will tap into the PM’s relief fund and state disaster reserves for compensation,” he said.

Omar assured the public that essential supplies would not be disrupted and warned traders against hoarding and black marketing. In case the highway remains blocked, the Mughal Road would be used to transport goods into the Valley.

But for many locals, the repeated tragedies point to a deeper, ignored truth.

The region falls within Seismic Zone IV and has experienced over a dozen low to moderate earthquakes since February this year, ranging between magnitudes 3.1 and 4.8. These may not cause buildings to collapse but are enough to weaken the already fragile slopes.

The 2021 CAG report on road infrastructure flagged several instances where tunnels and bridges lacked proper slope-stabilizing features like retaining walls, catch drains, and vegetation cover.

While the expansion of the Srinagar-Jammu highway continues at full pace, safety audits and environmental clearances remain opaque.

For people like Iqbal, the toll is not just physical but psychological.

“We don’t sleep at night anymore. Even a dog barking feels like a warning,” he says.

Several activists have flagged increased human activities in the region and warned of drastic catastrophe, if the activity is not stopped.

Hassan Babar, a prominent activist from the Chenab valley said that the mountains of the Chenab have been destroyed. “This is what the construction companies did to the mountains of Chenab Valley, everyone at the helm of affairs made fortunes…and the ones who raise concerns are labelled as trouble creators,” he wrote on his X.

Is this the way forward for sustainable development?
Dams,Tunnles and Highways #chenabvalley @nhidcl pic.twitter.com/D04LpJATSD

— Hassaan Babur (@Baburadv) February 19, 2023

With frequent landslides, land subsidence, and earthquakes shaking the region, the mountains appear to be sending a message — one of exhaustion and warning.

And unless scientific planning, seismic sensitivity, and ecological respect are built into every stretch of infrastructure, the Himalayas may keep rebelling — and burying what lies in their path.

A study published in the Journal of Resources and Ecology utilized a Landslide Numerical Risk Factor (LNRF) model, incorporating 13 thematic layers and a detailed landslide inventory.

The research identified that approximately 21% of the Chenab Valley falls under a very high landslide hazard zone.

Both natural factors and human activities, such as unregulated construction and deforestation, contribute to the increased landslide risk in the region, the study emphasized.