The pollution in varied forms has been causing environmental degradation in Jammu and Kashmir and consequently glaciers in this part of the world are now melting at a faster pace, threatening the survival of habitations in low lying areas. Environmental degradation in different forms of air, water, and noise pollution goes on unchecked in Jammu & Kashmir with concerned authorities including J&K Pollution Control Committee and other agencies sleeping over what environmentalists say ‘a ticking time bomb’. The problem can be attributed to rapid deforestation and rampant use of fossil fuels. The green patches in forest rich areas of the state have been shrinking at a faster pace while air-pollution including green house gases has been increasing day by day. Haphazard industrialization in the backdrop of faulty checks and constantly increasing number of automobiles has been adding to emission of greenhouse gases. Automobiles continue to spew carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and lead, not only polluting the air but also disturbing the heat and radiation balance of earth’s atmosphere. Per capita number of vehicles have increased manifold in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions as compared to population density and these vehicles have been adding to air pollution without any serious exercise by the government to check emissions of greenhouse gases. The rise in the air pollution graph in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu is not still catching attention of the concerned monitoring agencies like J&K Pollution Control Committee which is duty bound to install ‘Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Systems’. The project has been sanctioned for Jammu & Kashmir by Central Pollution Control Board almost 14 years ago. The installation of Enviro tech Instruments forms the part of traffic regulation in the twin capital cities Srinagar and Jammu as part of the measures taken for putting control on the traffic pollution.
Unless and until some stringent measures are not taken to streamline the automobile industry and regulate the traffic on modern scientific lines both air and noise pollution will continue to haunt the people in the twin capital cities.
The major source of air pollution in Srinagar and Jammu cities is emission from traffic. Noise pollution is another matter of concern for the people in both the summer and winter capital cities. The traffic police though launches over ambitious drives to rid the pubic transport vehicles of their music systems, but irony of the fact is that the majority of mini passenger buses plying on different routes reinstall or bought new music systems to entertain their passengers. Though many a times in the past massive drives against the use of music systems in the public transport buses were carried out, but ironically, paying little or no attention to the directives and strict warning issued by the traffic cops to drivers and conductors majority of drivers plying passenger vehicles are running music system much to the chagrin of commuters. For few days the transporters and owners of these matadors’ exercise self control but majority of them surrender before the wishes of their operators who are pushing hard to install. Unless and until some stringent measures are not taken to streamline the automobile industry and regulate the traffic on modern scientific lines both air and noise pollution will continue to haunt the people in the twin capital cities.
