After every disaster in Kashmir, government offices discover a convenient alibi.

When floods devastated the valley in 2014, officials in towns untouched by water suddenly claimed their records had been “washed away.”

Requests under the Right to Information Act were stonewalled with this excuse. The damage became less about nature and more about officialdom shielding itself.

The same story is unfolding again in Poonch. This time the scapegoat is Operation Sindoor, a security offensive launched in May after the Pahalgam attack.

The operation lasted barely three or four days. Yet when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pressed the local administration to remove mountains of garbage choking the Pulast Nadi, the Assistant Commissioner Development, who also heads the Municipal Council, claimed the waste could not be cleared because of the Op Sindoor.

The tribunal’s order was unambiguous. On April 9, it directed that all “legacy waste” dumped along the Poonch river must be removed by August 31.

That gave the municipality almost five months. Even after Operation Sindoor ended, officials had weeks to begin........

© Kashmir Observer