Deteriorating air quality in Kashmir valley

December 16, 2025

Air pollution is the most disturbingly provocative environmental problem in Kashmir valley and is directly related to human health. Air pollution occurs when gases, dust particles, fumes, smoke or odor are introduced into the atmosphere in a way that makes it harmful to humans, animals, plants and cultural assets. Kashmir valley is currently facing an alarming air pollution challenge with almost all areas under a thick carpet of dust and smoke. The situation has aggravated because of the prolonged dry spell, as the natural cleansing effect of precipitation is absent. Precipitation in the form of rains, or snow, help in washout of the pollutants in the atmosphere. The surge in the concentration of PM (PM1, PM 2.5, PM 4 and PM 10) and other air pollutants during winter are attributed to biomass burning and vehicular traffic coupled with other emissions from industrial units viz cement industries, brick kilns and stone crushers.

Since air keeps no boundaries, pollutants emanating from one area can move to other areas depending on the wind direction and weather conditions. The poor dissipation of the pollutants is also attributed to cold climatic conditions in Kashmir valley particularly during winter months which makes the air denser with low wind movement and thus does not allow the pollutants to escape and disperse, a phenomenon usually called as Thermal Inversion. The phenomenon helps in trapping the pollutants near the ground, makes the conditions foggy leading to poor visibility. The dry weather also makes the particulates to form an umbrella layer in the atmosphere which then stops the solar radiation coming on the earth mostly during dry winter. The bowl shaped valley surrounded by mountains does not allow the pollutants to disperse therefore there is no mechanism for pollutants to escape from the valley. The result is the increase in the number of suspended particulates and smoke in the atmosphere significantly deteriorating the air quality. The air quality in Kashmir valley is getting worst, posing a grave threat not only to human life but to all living creatures – birds, wild life and plants.

Health Impact

A normal human being inhales around 10,000 to 12,000 liters of air per day but irony of the fact is that in addition a lot of dust and smoke also makes its way into human body. Studies have shown that breathing polluted air is as bad as smoking 20-30 cigarettes per day and impacts are equal for both men and women. Through our lungs polluted air can make way in to our blood, heart and brain. Dust gets deposited (along with adsorption of other chemicals) on the alveoli of lungs affecting the pulmonary physiology of the people and also badly hampers the IQ of the children. Even diabetes, brain strokes, sudden heart attacks, asthma, lung bronchiolitis, pre mature hyper tension in children, COPD and damage to reproductive organs, eye and sore throat are also attributed to increasing air pollution. Some studies have even reported that average life span of the people may get decreased by 3 to 4 years in those people inhaling polluted air. In Kashmir valley it has also been reported that around 10,000 people usually die because of the air pollution every year.

Mitigation measures

There is no better solution for air pollution unless stopped at source, therefore strategies need to be adopted to emphasize curtailing the emissions rather than adopting combating procedures.
It is an established fact that we all Kashmiri are habitual of using charcoal inKangri(being economical and affordable heating aid during winters for common masses) but the process of making charcoal needs innovative approaches. Biomass should not be burnt in open air but need of the hour is to introduce cost effective pyrolyzing units (a machine which makes charcoal under controlled conditions with minimum emission). Strategies need to be devised to install such units in every village for public use. Even portable and mobile units can also be introduced which will help in mitigating the air pollution to the larger extent. Extra biomass (leaves and twigs etc.) can also be composted for use in agriculture – An ecofriendly way of disposal under waste to wealth concept.
Electricity needs to be supplied at affordable prices, particularly to weaker sections of the society, so that people make use of electric gadgets during winter months.
People should be encouraged to install electric Hammams rather than traditional Hammams dependent on biomass / fire wood.
Let’s change our attitude; Can’t we use hot water bottles instead ofKangri?
Mandatory use of CNG (comparatively cleaner fuel) in all vehicles in Kashmir valley.
Traffic management issues to be strictly enforced by the concerned department because slow movement of vehicles during traffic jams result in excessive pollutant emissions.
Government should increase the frequency of electric buses in Srinagar City and other districts of Kashmir valley.
Carpooling is another viable option. It will reduce movement of traffic on roads and carbon foot prints vis a vis air pollution problem.
Under current air pollution situation, it is mandatory and as a precautionary measure for all inhabitants to use N95 masks to check inhaling of bad air. It is also pertinent to mention that lot of money is drained off for purchasing medicine to cure air pollution related diseases.
Cement industries and brick kilns need to install highly efficient ecofriendly air pollution control technologies. We should exclusively switch over to making green bricks for construction because we cannot compensate for the loss of top soil used for brick making under current operational procedures which also leads to ugly topographical changes in the affected area.
Awareness programs regarding heath issue due to indoor/outdoor air pollution, is the need of the hour both at government level, through educational and religious institutions.