Daijiworld Media Network - Srinagar
Srinagar, Aug 28: Jammu and Kashmir’s senior religious leader and chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Friday described the devastation in Nepal and across the Himalayan region as a warning and called for a balance between development and environmental preservation.
Delivering the Friday congregational sermon at the historic Jama Masjid in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar, the Mirwaiz said the destruction witnessed in Nepal should deeply concern everyone as such incidents were not isolated events.
“They are warnings of how vulnerable our mountain ecosystems have become as glaciers collapse,” he said.
The Mirwaiz expressed solidarity with the people of Nepal and prayed for those who lost their lives, the safety and early recovery of those still missing, and strength and relief for all affected by the disaster.
He noted that Jammu and Kashmir is part of the same fragile Himalayan belt and said the region was already witnessing more intense rainfall, cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides.
“Climate change is undoubtedly a major factor, but we must also ask whether our own pattern of development is making the situation more dangerous,” he said.
Warning against unchecked development
The Mirwaiz said Kashmir’s mountains, lakes and rivers attract tourists and travellers and provide a source of livelihood to a large section of the population.
However, he expressed concern over what he described as the reckless exploitation of the region’s ecology in the name of commerce and development.
He said mountains were being cut and blasted for roads, trees felled, and hotels and other buildings constructed in ecologically sensitive areas, while natural drainage channels were being disturbed.
“If this continues without proper scientific and environmental safeguards, we are creating conditions for far greater disasters in the future,” he warned.
He also expressed concern over the continued encroachment of wetlands, lakes and flood channels, appealing to people not to occupy or construct on such areas.
“Wetlands are not unused land; they are natural buffers that absorb excess water and protect human settlements,” he said.
Dal Lake example
Referring to Dal Lake, the Mirwaiz said its condition should serve as an example of how prolonged encroachment, construction and environmental neglect can damage a precious natural ecosystem.
“We have only to look at the condition of our own Dal Lake to understand how prolonged encroachment, construction and environmental neglect can damage a precious natural system. It is shrinking day by day while we look the other way as if it’s no concern of ours,” he said.
Quoting the Holy Qur’an, he said: “And do not cause corruption on the earth after it has been set in order.”
The Mirwaiz said environmental protection was therefore a matter of serious collective responsibility.
He called on authorities, planners, businesses and citizens to recognise that infrastructure and tourism development in a fragile Himalayan region could have serious consequences.
“We have to strike a balance between ecological preservation and human intervention in the name of progress,” he said.
The Mirwaiz stressed that the tragedy in Nepal should be viewed as a warning close to home.
“We too live in the Himalayas. If we continue to disturb the natural balance of our mountains, forests, wetlands and waterways, the consequences may one day be irreversible,” he said.
He emphasised that protecting the environment was not merely about conservation but about protecting lives, homes and the future of children.