Garbage Dumping Threatens 252-Million-Year-Old Fossil Site In Kashmir
The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has appealed to the state government to take steps to protect the 252-million-year-old fossil site.
By ETV Bharat Jammu & Kashmir Team
Published : July 13, 2025 at 6:11 PM IST
Srinagar: The Guryul Ravine Fossil Park, one of the world’s crucial fossil sites, is facing a serious threat due to encroachment and illegal waste dumping. The rare geological treasure in the Khonmoh area of Kashmir holds vital clues to Earth’s prehistoric past, but illegal activities risk its fragile fossil beds and ancient sedimentary records.
The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has appealed to the state government to take steps to protect the 252-million-year-old fossil site. In a statement, EPG said the establishment of a large illegal garbage dumping yard near the fossil park amounts to a grave ecological violation and endangers a globally significant geo-heritage site that dates back 252 million years.
“It is the only known geological formation that preserves definitive evidence of the world's first recorded tsunami, embedded within its ancient sedimentary layers,” it said.
“The Guryul Ravine is globally acknowledged by geologists, palaeontologists, and climate scientists as one of the most important Permian-Triassic boundary sites in the world. The fossil record at Guryul Ravine offers a rare glimpse into the ecological collapse and recovery phases that followed the extinction. It serves as a natural laboratory for studying Earth's climate history, mass extinctions, tectonic activity, and evolutionary processes,” the group said.
The EPG claimed that the findings about the Guryul Ravine site had been mentioned in international scientific journals, attracting global research interest.
“The establishment of a waste dumping ground in such proximity to this ecologically and scientifically sensitive area is a shocking act of environmental vandalism. It directly violates several key environmental protection laws, including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016,” the EPG said.
The group warned that the dumping of garbage poses an immediate risk to the fossil beds, fragile sedimentary layers, and the overall ecological balance of the region.
“If this negligence is not addressed, it could destroy one of the few accessible records of the Earth’s most dramatic evolutionary moment,” the EPG said.
The EPG has sought Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary’s intervention for immediate corrective steps.
The group demanded that the fossil park and its surroundings should be declared a no-dumping zone and an eco-sensitive area under relevant provisions of the environmental and heritage protection law.
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