NEW DELHI: The tussle between former Anantnag Member of Parliament, Hasnain Masoodi, and the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change underscores how the government responds to issues of public importance raised by MPs in the House.
Reporters’ Collective, a non-profit Indian media collaborative portal has detailed Masoodi’s efforts to obtain information he sought on the floor of the House.
It is important to note that any information requested by an MP on the floor of the House is recorded, and if not answered, it goes to the Committee of Assurances, which follows it up until the member either withdraws the question or receives a satisfactory response. The persistence of the MP is crucial in this process.
In July 2019, Masoodi asked the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) whether the Union government planned to study the air pollution caused by over 20 cement factories and limestone mines in the Khrew-Khonmoh area, a cement manufacturing belt from Srinagar to Pulwama in Kashmir.
This inquiry came a month before the Union government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and downgraded it to a Union Territory under its direct control, ostensibly for regional development.
Unchecked air pollution from these factories led to frequent respiratory problems in Masoodi’s constituency, troubling him deeply.
“The cement factories and limestone mining had adversely affected not only the health of the people of Khrew but also saffron and almond cultivation, which is the backbone of the local economy,” Masoodi told The Reporters’ Collective.
“The factories spewed so much dust that the air people breathed was visibly polluted,” he added.
Masoodi asked the environment ministry if it had studied the damage caused by the cement industry to agriculture, horticulture, and saffron cultivation. The then Union Minister of State for Environment, Babul Supriyo, responded that no such study had been considered.
Despite public and media reports highlighting the health impacts of the cement industry, including respiratory diseases, lung impairment, and cancer, the ministry had not initiated any specific study.
Supriyo’s claim that a study by the state pollution control board was underway was treated as an assurance in Parliament, requiring the Union government to act within three months. However, the ministry did not follow through and sought to drop the assurance by the Lok Sabha’s Committee of Government Assurances, which monitors government promises. A year after the initial question, the ministry had not acted to protect public health in Anantnag.
In March 2020, the Union government requested the Lok Sabha committee to drop the assurance, citing that the matter was a routine function of the ministry under the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The ministry argued that it was ensuring effective rule implementation and stakeholder consultation but did not consider the statement an assurance. The parliamentary committee complied, dropping the assurance in August 2020.
By October 2020, the Ministry of Environment had received a report from the J&K Pollution Control Board, confirming Masoodi’s allegations of critical pollution levels. Despite this, the government neither made the report public nor sent it to the committee.
In March 2022, Masoodi raised the issue again in the Lok Sabha during ‘zero hour,’ demanding an independent inquiry into every cement unit’s environmental compliance in Khrew.
The central and state pollution control boards exchanged letters, with the central board asking for the compliance status of all cement industries in Anantnag. The J&K board eventually provided a status report in October 2022, giving all plants a clean chit, but the pollution persisted.
Undeterred, Masoodi demanded an independent evaluation. In December 2022, he raised the issue a third time in Parliament. The ministry partially relented, sending a central official team to Khrew in March 2023. The team found all cement plants and mines violating environmental laws, recommending audits and legal notices.
In December 2023, Masoodi’s persistence paid off.
The Union government tabled the central and state reports in Parliament, revealing the cement and limestone plants as major polluters.
Over three years after the initial inquiry, the Union government acknowledged the crisis in Anantnag, though significant change on the ground remains to be seen.
Masoodi, now out of Parliament, calls for an environmental audit to assess the true impact of the cement industry and limestone mining, considering the proximity to Dachigam National Park, home to the critically endangered Hangul (Kashmiri Red Deer).
It took Masoodi, five long years, to get the proper answer and the authorities to act on his inquiries that he had sought in the parliament.
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