When a tragedy strikes Kashmir, there’s always a group of people ready to profit from the pain. I’ve seen it before.

During the Amarnath agitation in 2008, the curfews of 2010 and 2016, the lockdown after Article 370 was scrapped, and the Covid shutdowns, our forests were plundered, illegal buildings sprang up, and wetlands were encroached.

Now, after the Pahalgam killings, it’s happening again. But this time, it’s not just the forests under attack. It’s our karewas, rivers, and mountains.

On Friday, April 25, 2025, I was driving through Darwan village near Charar Sharief in Budgam district. I had gone to meet a friend and we had lunch together after prayers at Watkaloo village. As we left around 4:30 PM, something caught my eye. A small hillock by the roadside had been razed to the ground. It looked like a bomb had hit it.

We pulled over and got out of the car. Sand was scattered everywhere. Deep gashes in the earth showed the tell-tale signs of JCB cranes and tipper trucks. Although there was no activity at that moment, Friday being a day of rest, the damage was fresh. Locals told me the excavation had been happening daily, especially after the Pahalgam carnage diverted the police and administration’s attention. They work day and night, I was told, using gazetted holidays, shutdown, and tragedies as cover.

I took videos and photographs and immediately posted them online, tagging the Geology and Mining Department. Predictably, they didn’t respond. Only Waseem Gul, the Divisional........

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