The death of a youth in unexploded artillery shell explosion in Tosamaidan earlier this month and discovery of more such shells has prompted the state government to order fresh sanitisation of the sprawling pasture.
The decision was taken at a meeting of top officials from government, police and army on 20 August.
The meeting was chaired by deputy commissioner BudgamSehrishAsgar.
As per minutes of the meeting, it was decided the army would clear the meadow of unexploded shells to be identified by three teams having employees from forest and wild life departments and police.
Part of the teams are the six persons well versed with the area and recommended by TosmaidanBachao Front, which had spearheaded an agitation in 2014 against extension of lease of the meadow to the army for firing practice.
Twenty-five-year-old WajidAhangar of Zoogu village in Budgam died of multiple injuries and three of his friends were seriously injured when a live shell exploded in the meadow on August 12.
The meadow was officially thrown open to public by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on 29 May 2016 after it was handed over by the army to the government in 2014.
Since then TosamaidanBachao Front (TBF) has been organising annual festival “Jashn-e-Tosamaidan” in the meadow. This year the five-day festival had started on August 9 but had to be called off owing to the tragedy.
The army had undertaken an 83-day long ‘Operation Falah’ to clear the meadow of unexploded shells.
“The initiative to clear Tosamaidan firing range of unexploded bombs and other dangerous objects came to a conclusion after 83 days. We can confidently say now that we have kept our promise of clearing the field,” then corps commander of Srinagar-based Chinar corps Lt Gen SubrataSaha, had told media on 22 October 2014.
The latest death, however, raised questions over government and union defence ministry’s claims about having sanitised the meadow, which had been used by army since 1965.
The death led to renewed demands from people living in villages circling the meadow and Front that it should be sanitised again.
The demand intensified after more than a dozen unexploded shells were found littered across the meadow. In fact the DC-headed meeting was told that 19 shells were destroyed by the army during fresh clearance exercise of the meadow on 19 August 2018, seven days after death of Wajid.
According to the Front, prior to 2014, the army was in possession of 69 sq km (11,600 hectares) of land in Tosamaidan, out of which 49 sq km was used as field firing range.
The meeting decided the army and the government teams, which would work under overall supervision of sub-district magistrate Beerwah, would not rest till the entire 69-km radius is cleared of unexploded shells.
A senior official said no decision has been taken on closing the meadow for tourists till sanitisation work is completed. However, he said, the areas where the shells would be found or those areas which are vulnerable would be closed down for tourists and people who take their cattle to meadow for grazing.
The deputy commissioner said clearance work has been started. “It is an ongoing process,” the DC said, adding administration has issued advisory against venturing into vulnerable areas.
She said 19 shells which were destroyed had been found in the area sanitised by army earlier.
“But their potential of explosion is questionable…we have apprehensions that there might be some (more) shells and that is why we have started this fresh exercise,” the DC said. More than 70 villages located around Tosamaidan are directly dependent on it as most of the people in these villages earn livelihood from grazing their cattle in the meadow. Over the years these villages have seen death closely as a majority of 65 persons killed in explosions of unexploded shells in Tosamaidan belonged to these villages.