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Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Greater Kashmir

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Waste Piles Up While Wars Take the Blame

Waste Piles Up While Wars Take the Blame

After every disaster in Kashmir, government offices discover a convenient alibi.  When floods devastated the valley in 2014, officials in towns...

latest 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

A Dressed Scam?

15.08.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Kashmir Activist Flags Large-Scale Ecological Damage to Lawmakers

Kashmir Activist Flags Large-Scale Ecological Damage to Lawmakers

For two decades, I have used the Right to Information Act (RTI) to track environmental damage in Jammu and Kashmir. I have filed hundreds of...

09.08.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Inside Kashmir’s Rotten Meat Crackdown 

I was there when they opened the cold storage unit in Zakura. It was a typical July day, the one that wears you down with heat, smell, and...

02.08.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Increasing Garbage Dumpsites & Aviation Safety in Kashmir!

01.08.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Looting karewas & mountains for Baale Sekh

25.07.2025 6

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Kashmir’s New Dumping Ground May Trigger Next Big Disaster

On June 20, 2025, Pulwama finally got the news it had waited years for: the garbage dump at Dangerpora was shut down. For families living next to...

24.07.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Claimants grapple to get benefits under Forest Rights Act ?

18.07.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Srinagar’s Waste Crisis Is Now a Public Health Emergency

In March this year, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) assured India’s top environmental court that it was finally ready to clean up the Achan...

16.07.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

We need a good legal training institute in J&K

11.07.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Why Kashmir’s Forest Dwellers Live Like Prisoners on Their Own Land

I wasn’t planning to stop at Nengroo Basti that day. It was 2022, and my team and I were in Darwan village, Budgam, to document delays in a rural...

11.07.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Defacing the Warwan Valley

04.07.2025 9

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Srinagar Stinks Terribly !

27.06.2025 7

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

No-more symbolic gatherings, focus on practical work

13.06.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Why Kashmir Needs a Legal Training Institute to Break the Deadlock

A few years ago, I stood on a patch of road in Chitroo Dangerpora village, Budgam, watching nothing happen. The road was supposed to be widened and...

02.06.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Exposing Water & Soft-drink Bottles to Sunlight is Dangerous !

30.05.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Kashmir’s Climate Crisis Now Comes with Scams

The numbers tell a grim story.  Kashmir has lost 15% of its forest cover since 1990. Temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average....

23.05.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Rape & murder of a Gujjar woman in Srinagar

16.05.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

PCI’s scrutiny needed

11.05.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Karewas now looted to excavate sand ?

03.05.2025 20

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

As Kashmir Grieves, the Sand Mafia Strikes

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...

27.04.2025 40

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Pahalgam Massacre Aftermath

26.04.2025 20

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Jhelum Is Dying. Why’s Nobody Accountable?

River Jhelum, Kashmir’s main waterway, is slowly choking under the weight of untreated sewage and official apathy. Despite repeated warnings, the...

20.04.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Equip Forest Department with Drones to check Forest Fires

19.04.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Why can’t a Govt officer address a citizen as Sir or Madam ?

11.04.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Kashmir is Burning—And It’s Not Just Climate Change to Blame

J&K Forest Minister Javed Ahmad Rana recently told the Assembly that as many as 1,243 forest fires were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the 2024-25...

06.04.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Develop Public Policies through Design Thinking

04.04.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Rs 12 Cr Environmental Compensation on SMC

29.03.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Supplying Polluted Water Violates Consumer Rights

We recently commemorated World Consumer Rights Day, observed every year on March 15. This day serves as a reminder of the importance of consumer...

28.03.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Black Carbon is enhancing Glacial Meltdown in Kashmir

21.03.2025 5

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Khrew-Pahalgam Mountains Need Massive Plantation Not Roads!

It was shocking for me when I learned that Justice (Retired) Hasnain Masoodi, the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Pampore, is advocating...

19.03.2025 30

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Waste Segregation Sheds near Waterbodies, Govt Admits!

14.03.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Disaster Under the Garb of Development?

The Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Mr. Surinder Chowdhary, who also holds the portfolio of the Mining Department, informed the Legislative...

11.03.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Riverbed Mining in J&K needs CBI Inquiry ?

07.03.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Is Wetland Wildlife Under Threat in Kashmir?

In many countries, wetlands were regarded as wastelands in the past. Even in developed nations, the authorities were hardly concerned about wetlands....

04.03.2025 10

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Why do Karewas need legal Protection in J&K ?

28.02.2025 3

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Will the Karewa Protection Bill Become a Law in J&K?

The valley of Kashmir is an oval-shaped basin with a small plain area of approximately 160 x 60 km. The valley has large tracts of plateaus, locally...

23.02.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Who is responsible for polluting Doodh Ganga ?

22.02.2025 20

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Curtailing Benefits of the Golden Card Scheme is Anti-Poor

The Jammu & Kashmir’s much-appreciated health insurance scheme (Golden Card), launched in 2020, is losing its sheen day by day. Initially, there was...

16.02.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Seeking NGT’s intervention for petty cases

14.02.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Springs in Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining

07.02.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

NGT Steps In as J&K Fails to Enforce Environmental Laws  

I remember the late former Union Finance and Law Minister Arun Jaitley stressing the importance of drawing a line between the judiciary and the...

07.02.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Communication Breakdown in this Digital Era

31.01.2025 6

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Honouring Preservation and Perseverance 

Finally, Farooq Ahmad Mir, an unsung hero of Kashmir, has been conferred with the Padma Shri award for his work in the promotion of Kani-shawl at both...

30.01.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Mining in Sukhnag: Heavy Loss to State Exchequer

24.01.2025 7

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

RTI Goes Digital In J&K But With Flaws

Finally, the RTI has gone online in Jammu & Kashmir. As campaigners for the Right to Information Act (RTI), it has been our long-pending demand. My...

18.01.2025 7

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Will JKPCC, ULBs take CS’s direction seriously?

17.01.2025 9

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

123 Acre Landfill Site & 11 Lakh MTs of Legacy Waste?

10.01.2025 10

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Snow Clearance Under MG-NREGA

For more than eight years, I have been trying my best to make our government understand the importance of including snow clearance work under the...

09.01.2025 20

Kashmir Observer

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

Finally NGT’s enquiry team visits Sukhnag!

On the early morning of December 26th 2024 the huge JCB and L&T Cranes were taken out all of a sudden from Sukhnag river. The operators started...

03.01.2025 7

Greater Kashmir

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat