SRINAGAR, JAN 27 (KNS) ; A Srinagar-based environmental advocacy group has sought a dedicated budgetary allocation of Rs 10 crore from the Jammu and Kashmir administration for the protection and development of the globally-significant Guryul Ravine geo-heritage site in Khunmoh, while warning against its potential destruction due to nearby industrial activity.
The Environmental Policy Group (EPG), informed news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS), the demand for the allocation in the 2026-27 UT budget follows the recent declaration of the Guryul Ravine as a "Geo-Heritage Site of National Importance" by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in October last year.
The site preserves the clearest geological record of the Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction event — known as the "Great Dying" — which wiped out most life on Earth around 252 million years ago, the group informed KNS.
The EPG group stated that the Guryul Ravine holds "far greater scientific value" than many globally celebrated sites, including the famous Meishan Section in China, which is much smaller but generates billions in tourism and research revenue.
"Despite this, the Guryul Ravine continues to suffer from neglect and degradation," the group said.
The group expressed "serious concern" over recent activities involving heavy machinery, mountain cutting, and the construction of large industrial infrastructure in the vicinity of the ravine.
"Any move to establish an industrial estate in and around the site would irreversibly jeopardise this one-of-a-kind geological archive," the EPG warned, urging policymakers to learn from Supreme Court interventions in cases like the Aravalli Hills.
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The EPG highlighted that decades of illegal mining have already caused "irreversible damage" to the area, with significant portions of the geological record destroyed and converted into construction material before mining was halted in 2017 following protests.
While acknowledging some protective measures taken — including land transfer and partial fencing — the group said these steps remain "grossly inadequate" without a comprehensive plan backed by sufficient funds.
Calling the GSI declaration a "golden opportunity", the EPG said the Rs 10 crore allocation is needed for scientific conservation, site protection, visitor infrastructure, and preparing the site for a potential nomination as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
"The fossil park at Khunmoh is a one-in-a-million historic site with no parallel anywhere on the globe. Destroying it in the name of development would be a historic blunder," the group informed to KNS.
The group appealed to the government to immediately halt further "vandalisation" of the site, declare the area a no-mining and no-industry zone, and prioritise long-term conservation.
"Protect the Guryul Ravine. It will repay the region many times over through science, tourism and global recognition," the EPG further added. (KNS)