EPG seeks action to halt garbage dumping near Guryul Ravine Fossil Park

Srinagar, Jul 12: The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has expressed serious concern regarding the illegal dumping of garbage near the 252-million-year-old Fossil Park at Guryul Ravine, located on the outskirts of Srinagar.This act of environmental vandalism threatens a globally significant geo-heritage site renowned for its exceptional scientific importance, including evidence of the world’s first recorded tsunami embedded within its ancient sedimentary layers, the EPG said in a statement issued here.Guryul Ravine is recognised worldwide as one of the most important Permian-Triassic boundary sites, providing crucial insights into Earth’s climate history, mass extinctions, and evolutionary processes. Its unique sedimentary structures confirm the earliest evidence of massive oceanic disturbances during the Permian-Triassic transition, making it a critical natural laboratory and a designated world heritage asset.The illegal establishment of a waste dumping ground so close to this sensitive site constitutes a serious violation of Indian environmental laws, including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the group said, adding that it also contravenes court directives for the conservation of such heritage zones.Despite prior bans on mining and activities around the site, officials have allowed the site to be encroached upon and misused for waste disposal, causing irreversible damage to the fossil beds and fragile sedimentary layers, it added.The EPG in the statement condemned this neglect and has called for immediate action from relevant authorities, including the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee, District Administration Srinagar, Department of Geology and Mining, Department of Wildlife Protection, and Rural Development Department. It urged the dismantling of the illegal dumping site and stringent legal measures against those responsible.The group also plans to file a petition in the High Court to seek urgent intervention and enhance legal safeguards for the site. It has appealed to high-level officials such as the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and the Chief Secretary to take immediate corrective measures.The EPG has also advocated declaring Guryul Ravine and its buffer zone as a No-Dumping Zone and an Eco-Sensitive Area under relevant laws, to ensure its protection for future generations.