SRINAGAR: Fearing an 'ecological imbalance' in the region, the Jammu and Kashmir government had last year deferred the construction of a concrete road leading up to the Amarnath cave situated 14,000 feet above sea level. The Supreme Court had directed the state government to constitute a committee to look into the high rate of deaths during the Amarnath pilgrimage and construct a road up to the holy cave to promote the safety of pilgrims.

Civil society members had criticized the apex court's directions, saying the ecological balance in Kashmir would be adversely affected if they were followed. "If the construction of the road is taken up in the area, it would lead to the felling of lakhs of lush-green trees," Shakeel Qalandar, a civil-society activist, had said. "Every year pilgrims turn up in large numbers to visit their holy places in Kashmir. Not only do we welcome them, we also offer good hospitality. But now some parties are knocking at the door of the Supreme Court for the construction of macadamized roads to the Amarnath cave and also building other infrastructure in the area. The macadamisation of the route up to the cave will also increase pollution in the area, resulting in the melting of glaciers. Such a situation would trigger an ecological disaster in this environmentally sensitive region."

The state government had tried to put the apex court direction in the right perspective. State finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather and public health engineering minister Sham Lal Sharma had said the court appointed a high-powered committee to look into the reasons for the deaths of pilgrims and submit a report. They said the panel had looked into the impact of pilgrims on the area's environment.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said there were no plans to construct hospitals or roads, but admitted the number of pilgrims to the cave shrine needed to be limited. "The number of yatris that visits the shrine is too high and the deaths occurring were natural," he had said, adding the state government was doing everything to help the pilgrims. He had said the matter was subjudice.

Also last year, a group of civil-society members, most of them owing allegiance to various separatist groups, had vowed to oppose the construction of the road. They had demanded that "no human activity be undertaken" in the area surrounding the Amarnath shrine "in a manner that will irreversibly damage the fragile ecology of the area". They had added that many pilgrims were guilty of not adhering to the "basic principles of acclimatization", something that contributed to the high mortality encountered during the yatra.