Eyewitness: The River Behind My House is Shrinking

SHOPIAN: The Sangaloo River flows behind my house. For most of my childhood, it was the most alive thing in my life.

Walking home from school along its bank, I would stop and watch the water rushing past. The current was so strong that I was certain anyone who jumped in, or even slipped, would be swept away.

Today I stand on that same bank and barely recognise it.

"At some places, the river was 50 to 60 feet wide, with an overall width of around 50 feet. Now, if we measure it, even 20 feet would be the maximum width," says Mohammad Yaqoob Gatoo, a social activist from Shopian, giving a rough estimate of the river’s shrinking width and the description matches what many locals say. "Compare this with the same river at places where there has been no human interference, and you will be astonished to see its condition, flow and beauty."

The Sangaloo runs through the heart of Shopian town. It was once serene and crystal clear, and people in 30 to 40 villages downstream drank from it and used it to irrigate the apple orchards that Shopian is known for and that most families here depend on.

The river flows down from the Pir Panjal glaciers along the sides of the Mughal Road and reaches Heerpora. From Heerpora to Alyalpora, there is relatively little human intervention. On one side flows the Rambi Ara River while on the other are steep mountains along the edge of the Mughal Road, leaving little space for human habitation. From Alyalpora, the river passes through the main town and continues beyond the municipal limits. It then flows through villages including Largam, Habdipora, Kilora, Malikgund and Losdanew, before finally meeting the Jhelum at Sangam. Sangam, which literally means a place where rivers or tributaries meet, is a village in Anantnag district.

At present, Sangaloo is struggling to survive. Pollution, encroachment and years of neglect have reduced it to a shadow of itself. At several places, people have built onto its banks. At others, drains and latrines empty straight into the water. Its width has shrunk at several points, and people can be seen recklessly throwing household waste into it.

I have reported on this before. A few years ago, I made a video report in February 2018, documenting the encroachments and pollution. Following the report, the authorities acted by June 2018 and parts of the river were cleaned and some encroachments were cleared. Then the years passed, the problems crept back, and the river returned to the state it was in before.

Now a new intervention is squeezing what remains of its flow.

The Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department is laying pipes through the riverbed at several places to supply filtered water to downstream villages from the filtration plant at Padpawan, Shopian, under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

At some points, the work has stopped the flow altogether, and the river increasingly looks like a narrow stream. I have documented this in a second video report in September 2023, showing the pipes being installed and what they are doing to the current.

From Water Source to a Protector

Gatoo, popularly known as Mitha Gatoo, does not spare anyone. He criticises the PHE and Irrigation departments, and he also criticises the people of Shopian.

"We, as civilised citizens, have failed to raise our voice against the ill-treatment meted out to this bestowed gift of nature. At a time when the whole world is concerned about climate change and environmental degradation, we are contributing to the problem either by encroaching upon this water body or polluting it.

There is no available data on encroachments. However, it is noticeable along the river once one crosses the stretch from Heerpora to Alyalpora, where there is relatively little human habitation. A haphazard sprawl of constructions can be seen along the riverbanks once it nears Shopian’s municipal limits.

There are hundreds of households whose bathroom sewage is directly flowing into its waters, which has resulted in cases of jaundice in the downstream villages several times," he said.

Sewage, garbage and riverside toilets in Shopian are polluting the Sangaloo, making it a source of jaundice, gastroenteritis, typhoid and cholera. Unofficial figures put jaundice deaths at five during September and November, including a 19-year-old girl, and 152 people in Krawoora, Trapadpora and Chaki-sidiq Khan were reported ill in 2011. A news report then, quoting Block Medical Officer, said the river was solely responsible for the outbreak and its water wasn't safe even after boiling; the river had also shrunk from 24 to about 18 feet wide.

Like me, he remembers a different river.

"When we were school-going children, we used to drink its water. Almost every household used its water for drinking purposes. There were several streams flowing out from this river, namely Gamlaad Kol, Sheikh Kol, Norri Kol and Dhobi Kol, which also passed through the main town from different wards. I remember that when we left school to offer prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid, one of these streams flowed beside the mosque. We used to perform ablution there before offering prayers. However, the same stream now stinks, as there is hardly any water flow."

That stream once was more than a lifeline. Gatoo talks about the time when it protected the town: the 1979 fire that swept through a large part of Shopian's main market.

"It was the same stream that helped us protect the Jamia Masjid from that devastating fire. If something like that were to happen today, what would we do?" Gatoo asked. "But the PHE and Irrigation departments are busy blaming each other, while both are equally responsible for the deterioration of this water body."

PHE, Irrigation Departments Blame Game

The Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010 makes the government responsible for conserving and protecting water and for preserving the "physical integrity of water courses," which puts the duty to stop Sangaloo's encroachment and sewage pollution on the state.

It also requires the government to run a regulatory authority charged with "sustainable management" of water resources, so the river's decline points to a failure to enforce that law. However, evidence points out to a lack of co-ordination and contradictory perceptions from different officials.

Kashmir Times spoke to Javed Ahmad, Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Division in Shopian, who took serious note of it and assured strict action.

On encroachments, he said the department would soon carry out a survey. None has ever been conducted in this area.

"We will survey the water body from head to tail, and wherever we find encroachments, we will issue notices to the concerned households. However, our main priority at present is to remove the pipes from the water body so that its original shape and proper flow can be restored," Ahmad said.

"I have written to the Executive Engineer, PHE Shopian, several times, but it seems they have done nothing. In this connection, I met the Superintending Engineer, PHE, today (September 29, 2026). If the issue is not resolved, we will take it up with the Deputy Commissioner, Shopian. It is a grave issue, as the flow of the water body is being obstructed by these pipes. Plastic and other waste material also gets stuck around the pipes, further blocking the flow," he said.

"Besides, during winters, the reduced space causes the water to overflow, creating problems for the people."

In November 2025, when the Executive Engineer Irrigation was contacted, he maintained the same: he had written to the PHE department.

However, Executive Engineer PHE Shopian Abdul Rashid justified the pipe-laying work and told Kashmir Times that there was no other alternative. “No other corridor is available for laying the water pipes, as both sides of the river are built up,” he averred, and added: The project will supply potable drinking water to around 60 villages under Jal Jeevan Mission.

“Besides this, we are retrieving decades-old pipes and will lay the new pipes within a two-foot space. We will also ensure that the river is restored to its proper shape,” he said.

On obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Irrigation Department, Rashid said, “The Irrigation Department may not have issued an NOC officially, but we have their verbal consent. We also held a joint meeting in 2023 in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, Shopian.”

Ahmad disputes the claim and says that his department will take action against PHE for going ahead with the project without an NOC.

A Lifeline for Orchards and Villages

Ashiq Hussain lives close to the river, and he is angry.

"The municipality started the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan years ago and claims to keep the district neat and clean, but I fail to understand why they are unable to see the condition of this water body. They have also started door-to-door waste collection, yet the river is filled with garbage, including plastic waste. Why is there no strict law to punish those who violate the norms and turn this priceless natural resource into a dumping ground?" he asked. "People should be punished for throwing garbage and other waste material into the water body."

Suhail Malik, Chief Executive Officer, Shopian Municipality, last November admitted that littering in the Sangaloo nallah was going on but claimed that things had improved after “our successful launch of door-to-door collection of solid waste.”

He also added that for liquid waste management, a Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) had been approved and would soon be executed. Almost a year since, the work on the plant is still in progress.

Lost Food and Declining Health

For Ashiq, the river was once a source of food and a part of community life.

"Our whole mohalla used to go fishing in October and November, when the flow of the river would slow down. The fish from this river was famous for its taste, but they have also disappeared because of the filthy condition of the water body. Besides fishing, whenever we needed construction material, we would also benefit from the river by collecting boulders and bajri."

Fishing in its waters is now a rare sight. Like many other water bodies across Kashmir, Sangaloo too is losing fish to choking due to sewage, garbage and encroachments. In rivers across Kashmir, more than half of native species are extinct.

Since there's no fish data for Sangaloo itself, the wording keeps it to "likely" rather than stating a decline as fact.

Downstream in Habdipora village, orchardist Mohammad Ramzan stands in the riverbed with a shovel. He is trying to dig a channel that will carry water to his orchard. Pipes have been laid along the river, and a bulldozer tore up the riverbed while installing them.

"Our orchards are dependent on this river for irrigation. It is not just our village. Around 30 to 40 villages depend on it until the river meets other tributaries at Sangam," he said.

"Earlier, we used to use its water for drinking purposes, but now it is polluted and cannot be used anymore. At least, it was available for irrigation. Our main economy and livelihood depend on apple cultivation. For the past three years, we have been forced to irrigate our orchards using water motors, which costs us heavily because the flow of the river has been slowing down.

"If the situation continues, time is not far when we may no longer see this river in existence."

Dr Abdul Bari Shah, an environmental expert from Shopian town who lectures at Government Degree College, Baramulla, told Kashmir Times that the flow could fall further if nothing changes. He pointed out that the world is already facing declining precipitation, and that the Sangaloo is a perennial, snow-fed river. Unlike monsoon-fed or seasonal streams, it is meant to run all year.

"As far as the climatic significance of this particular water body is concerned, it may be small, but its importance cannot be neglected. It is a source of potable water for thousands of households, serves agricultural needs and is also an important tributary of the Jhelum," he said.

He said the gravest consequence is the effect on the health of people downstream.

"The main impact will be on the health of people because the water is getting contaminated. Downstream, people use it for drinking, and we have seen reports of jaundice, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases," Dr Bari said.

"We also use this water for our cattle, whose milk and meat we consume. Toxic substances are entering the river and making the water unsafe for use."

Conscious of its contamination, even though no adequate surveys or tests have been conducted, many people, as Ramzan mentioned, have given up using the water from the river for drinking purposes. However, people living downstream, where its waters still appear crystal clean, still rely on it.

Doctors have been warning about the water-borne diseases in the area since 2011. The authorities have yet to conduct a scientific assessment of its waters. And the PHE and Irrigation departments are now passing the buck on its further contamination.