Tosa Maidan - Beerwah, The Forbidden Meadows

Of late there has been very spirited opposition to the extension of the lease of Army’s Tosa Maidan firing range in Kashmir's Beerwah Tehsil. Led by self-styled social activists, it has become an emotive issue wrapped around themes of civil casualties, degradation of forests and loss of livelihood. All Valley based political parties and separatists duly supported by media have upped the ante to meet their respective agendas of victimhood and political powerlessness vis-a-vis the Centre .
Dispassionately though facts speak otherwise and the emphasis here is on National security .
Like it or not, National Security requires an all-weather readiness against a recalcitrant enemy out to take advantage of any weaknesses in India’s defence preparedness. The aim is to maintain optimum battle readiness at all times. To achieve this aim, the country must raise, train and maintain security forces capable of achieving these objectives. Provision of latest weapon systems, up gradation of technology and training facility/infrastructure directly or through the state govt subject (being part of a concurrent list also) where the forces are accommodated is National responsibility . Accordingly, the training infrastructures are created in a manner that the actual terrain, weather and operational environment, as obtaining during war can be replicated or simulated.
One such vital infrastructure is the field firing ranges which are essential for training, evaluation of weapon system, research and development, proofing of weapons and conduct of exercises. With this aim, a number of ranges across the country were acquired or notified by the central govt through the respective state governments to cater to the overall requirement of Army as well as other security forces. (Mahajan, Pokhran, Wheeler Island, Tosa Maidan and Naraingarh ranges are just few of them). In case of J&K there were large number of areas that were earmarked at the time of independence for such activities and Army could freely undertake the training. However, with industrialization and increased economic activities, the land requirement increased. Consequently, Army gave up few areas, retaining only the bare essential areas as ranges. What the Army retains now is something that neither Army can afford to give up nor the government can deny.
For the forces deployed in J&K, the problem is more acute as the Valley is land locked from all sides, surrounded by mountains and forests, thereby restricting the options for areas that can be chosen as ranges. Accessibility through roads and tracks is another limiting factor because utilization of such ranges by heavy calibre weapons needs suitable roads. The firing ranges also need to offer topography similar to those where operations are likely to be undertaken and must enable firing under variable technical conditions, resulting out of numerous factors. These variables are at both the ends, that is, at the firing end as well as the target end. It is also necessary that the firing ranges are to be located close to the major Army deployments so that the travel time as well wear and tear of the equipment is minimized and move of units for training does not take them outside their operational areas.
Tosa Maidan is the only suitable firing range available in the Valley. It primarily comprises of uninhabited forest land with marginal portion as private land. In the recent past, lot of hue and cry has been made by vested interests not to extend the lease of the ranges beyond April 2014 citing various reasons like relentless artillery fire, loss to the bio diversity sanctuary, health problems to the locals, destruction of flora and fauna, toxic effects of use of ammunition, destruction of grazing area for the cattle, and lately the inability of the govt to develop tourism. Undoubtedly, some of this is true and hard to avoid. However, the critics failed to take into account the importance of maintaining the sanctity of territorial integrity in the border state and the suffering people have undergone on numerous occasions since 1948 when Kashmir was invaded. Presence of forces in the area has improved the security environment and boosted the economy of the region as well as tourism.
Tosa Maidan ranges are being used by the forces for the last 50 years and the land occupied for the training is minuscule compared to the overall forest land. Non extension of lease of this range will deprive the forces the opportunity to train themselves and will have direct impact on the defence preparedness of the country. The state and central governments are duty bound to provide the infrastructure as per the technical requirement of the forces in the interest of nation rather than obliging to the vested interests of one state.
The army adopts stringent safety measures like warning the people, civil administration, village elders before and during the firing and placing the sentries at appropriate places. Large number of other methods and means are also employed to interact with the locals so that they could be further educated on the safety measures to be adopted during firing. While use of Tosa Maidan firing ranges cannot be wished away, army undertakes a number of welfare measures to make up for the inconveniences caused to the people by way of conducting medical/veterinary camps and a host of developmental, educational and vocational training related activities. Destruction and removal of other hazardous substances are also undertaken by the authorities controlling the ranges.


These practices are time-tested and periodically evaluated to ensure maximum safety to the local residents. The ammunition used by the forces undergoes strict quality control at Ordnance Factories and the contention of release of toxic material that affects the water bodies is baseless. More over the actual area where ammunition hits the ground is barely of one kilometer spread and that area is devoid of trees. It is totally barren, hence the damage caused to the ecology is almost negligible or zero.
The injuries or loss to the lives in the past has primarily been due to the non-adherence to the safety measures by the civilians during the practice or may be due to the greed of collecting the metal scrap, when the firing is on. Our interaction with the residents of the area reveals that despite adequate warning and presence of police, people (especially children), out of greed to earn some money by selling metal scrap, venture into the ranges during the firing. This sometimes results into injuries or loss of lives. It happens as a result of the abject poverty prevailing in the area and lack of employment opportunities. Though these problems are prevailing across the length and breadth of the state, the people in this area are particularly conducive to be influenced by unrealistic and unbelievable dreams. The people leading the movement against extension of the lease have also been collecting funds from different groups and have succeeded in politicizing the issue.
In the recent past there is desperation by groups across the LOC to infiltrate more terrorists to cause large-scale disruption in the forthcoming assembly elections. Inimical elements see the presence of security forces in the area as a major hindrance towards terrorist related activities. Hence using gullible locals as a screen they are trying to spread rumours and misguide them. Some of them are using the issue to realize their personal commercial interests too. In order to actualize their agenda, they operate behind the shadows of social organizations and raise the bogey of public interest.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, with J& K having entered the election cycle, the issue has suddenly been adopted as part of the election agenda of all of the Valley based political parties and individual leaders.
Another crucial aspect is the timber smuggler nexus of politicians, bureaucrats, and police, to vacate this area of army presence. Having absolutely ravaged and denuded the mountains of timber, these unscrupulous elements, in connivance with administrative machinery and business interests have their eyes on meadows near Tangmarg across the mountains. After already denuding forest cover in areas like Suta Haran, their aim is to play on environmental issues and discomfort to locals to serve their nefarious designs. Interestingly, through all my interactions with the Bakarwals, I have never heard a single complaint about the army. In fact, the army presence has ensured this to be the most terror free area in the region because of which the Tourism Department has laid out special trekking routes aiming to boost tourism and to provide employment and prosperity to inhabitants of this otherwise poor and neglected area.


In all my observations I often find the army to be pioneers in protecting the ecology and environment. They undertake numerous initiatives for preservation of ecology all over the country. Hence they cannot be termed as a destroyers of the ecology. However, it may be advisable for the army to undertake afforestation projects in these areas to compensate for the affected area which is by a huge compensatory afforestation drive.
The army plays an important role in maintaining peace and tranquility in the Valley which is a prerequisite for the development and progress of the people. In fact, the role of the security forces towards revival of tourism cannot be questioned. Whether it is general tourism or religious tourism, it will rarely come to the Valley if there is no semblance of security and stability in the state.
What needs to be understood is that raising such an issue on an emotive plane in an election year has the propensity to disturb peace in an agitation mode. If main stream political parties take this up as an agenda for the elections, unrest would result in a situation like the Shrine Board agitation of 2008. Mainstream political parties would welcome that congruence as it would lead to a virtual boycott of the elections and allow them to “manage” the remaining turnout at the polls. As so often now, the separatists are enjoying this storm while political parties are participating in divisive tactics.
In every such problem solutions are more important than just agitation. It is time the Army earmarked a special Sadhbhavana budget and effort to compensate the local people. There is no end to the good which can be done through this route instead of waiting for the issue to snowball. Rural tourism in the adjoining areas, undertaken by the local people with State and Army efforts will contribute to the much wanted tourist infrastructure in Kashmir where the quantum of tourism is now reaching a plateau because of lack of infrastructure in the urban settlements. The social evil of timber smuggling can also be arrested through this scheme to provide smugglers alternative means of livelihood. In many ways this is akin to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model which was proposed by the Army in May 2012.
All stakeholders must now come together constructively and take suitable steps to ensure that this issue does not snow ball any further than it already has. There is room for compromise if there is willingness to explore options as to how to co-exist peacefully.

# Muzamil Banday