The Jammu and Kashmir government’s move to hand over a chunk of the meadows of Tragbal, in Bandipora district of north Kashmir, to the Army for setting up an artillery firing range is snowballing into a major controversy. And as the civil society and residents put up a fight against the move, this could be the first stiff test for the Mehbooba Mufti-led government that is likely to take shape in the next few days. “There are several places under consideration (for the firing range), and Tragbal is one of them. Nothing has been finalised yet,” a state Home Department official said. “The Army already possesses a large chunk of land there (in Tragbal).” The state government and the Army are looking for land to set up artillery firing range after the Omar Abdullah-led government, in 2014, decided not to extend the lease of Tosa Maidan meadows to the Army. [related-post] The Army had been using the Tosa Maidan meadows for artillery firing range for over 50 years now. The government’ decision against extending the lease was taken in view of public resentment. More than 50 residents of villages around the meadows are said to have have lost their lives allegedly to stray or unexploded shells, and a large number of people rendered crippled. After Tosa Maidan, the state government was planning to hand over land in Bajpathri, another meadow in Budgam district, for the firing range. The plan was shelved after protests in the area. A similar proposal to set up an artillery firing range near the Line of Control at Tulail, in Gurez, was also dropped.
