How Delhi's Courtroom Restored Balance In Bandipora

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) SRINAGAR : It took more than two years, countless petitions, and the intervention of the country's top environmental court to shut down a cement brick unit in Naidkhai, Bandipora.

The unit stood just next to a government higher secondary school and private homes. Despite clear violations of environmental laws, local officials looked the other way.

Zahoor Ahmad Dar, a resident of Naidkhai, first raised concerns in 2022 when construction began next to the school. Dust from the site filled classrooms. Noise disrupted lectures. The school principal wrote to the local tehsildar. A report was ordered, but no action followed.

The matter bounced from the SDM's desk to the DC's office, and eventually landed in the Governor's Grievance Cell.

In May 2024, the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) finally stepped in. It found the unit in violation of both the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981. A closure order was issued on May 27, 2024.

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That should have ended the matter. It didn't.

The owner of the plant went to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Srinagar, who stayed the closure. Legally, civil courts have no authority in such matters. Yet the stay remained, and the plant kept operating.

JKPCC, oddly, did not appeal the CJM's order.

With local and legal remedies exhausted, Zahoor Ahmad Dar took the fight to New Delhi. On January 21, 2025, he and his son appeared virtually before the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Justice Prakash Srivastava and Expert Member Dr. Afroz Ahmad ruled that the CJM had no jurisdiction.

The NGT cited Section 58 of the Water Act, which bars civil courts from interfering in cases handled under the Pollution Control framework. They advised the JKPCC to approach the CJM for modification of the order.

The CJM vacated the stay on July 15, 2025. Days later, on July 22, the Tehsildar sealed the unit.

“After being ignored by every office, we had almost given up,” said Zahid Zahoor, the petitioner's son.“What should've taken one visit to the DC ended up at the NGT.”

For residents of Naidkhai, the issue was simple: a brick plant had no place next to a school.

For officials, however, the problem dragged on through bureaucratic silence and legal loopholes.

In the end, it took Delhi's courtroom to restore Bandipora's balance.

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