Context: Recently, the Karewas are being used for the construction of the Srinagar ring road which means Kashmir’s highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called ‘karewas’ are being destroyed in the name of development.

Destruction of Karewas

• Despite its agricultural and archaeological importance, karewas are now being excavated to be used in construction.
• Between 1995 and 2005, massive portions of karewas in Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla districts were razed to the ground for clay for the 125-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla rail line.
• The Srinagar airport is built on the Damodar karewa in Budgam.
• The most recent violation is in 2021 when the Baramulla deputy commissioner gave consent for the excavation of karewas around Pattan village and uses the clay for the construction of the Srinagar ring road.
• Two other karewas—in Pulwama and Budgam districts—are also being excavated for the 58-km-long project.

Acts violated

• The Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, 1996, says the topographic shape of a karewa or hill cannot be changed in the valley.
• But clay mining often razes the highland to the ground and changes the entire topography of the place.
• The residents allege that the project also violates the Jammu and Kashmir Minor Mineral (Storage, Transportation of Minerals and Prevention of Illegal Mining) Rules, 2016.
• “The panchayat needs to give consent for minor mineral mining. The order has conveniently bypassed this.”

Karewas

• Karewas are the thick deposits of glacial clay and other materials embedded with moraines.
• They are composed of sand, silt, clay, shale, mud, lignite, gravel and loessic sediments.
• Karewas are lacustrine deposits (deposits in lake) and flat-topped mounds that border the Kashmir Valley on all sides.
• They are characterized with fossils of mammals and at places by peat.

Formation:

• Karewas were formed during the Pleistocene Period, when the entire Valley of Kashmir was under water.
• Due to the rise of Pir Panjal, the drainage was impounded and a lake of about 5000 sq. km area was developed and thus a basin was formed.
• Subsequently, the lake was drained through Baramulla gorge.
• The deposits left in the process are known as Karewas.

Distribution:

• The Kashmir valley is known for Karewa deposits.
• The thickness of Karewas is about 1400 m.
• It lies between the Pir Panjal Range and the Great Himalayan Range, in Northwest India.

Stages:

• These deposits in the Kashmir valley have been conventionally divided into two stages, namely lower and upper, representing argillaceous and arenaceous facies respectively.
• The upper Karewas are less fossiliferous than the lower Karewas.
• The entire belt touching the foothills of the Pir Panjal represents the lower Karewas, which has been exposed to the rivers starting from the south such as Veshav, Rembiara, Romushu, Dodhganga among others.

Significance

• The fertility of these patches is believed to be the result of their long history of formation.
• When formed during the Pleistocene period (2.6 million years to 11,700 years ago), the Pir Panjal range blocked the natural drainage in the region and formed a lake spanning 5,000 sq km (roughly three times the size of Delhi).
• Karewa, these plateaus are 13,000-18,000 metre-thick deposits of alluvial soil and sediments like sandstone and mudstone.
• This makes them ideal for cultivation of saffron, almonds, apples and several other cash crops.
• Kashmir saffron, which received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2020 for its longer and thicker stigmas, deep-red colour, high aroma and bitter flavour, is grown on these karewas.