Kishtwar Sapphire: The truth we know

SHEIKH NASIR
KISHTWAR: The tall claims of the successive state government that it is has taken possible steps to explore the world famous Kishtwar mines remained on papers while the mines continue to be ravaged by vandals and smugglers.
The state government claimed in 2005 that it has invited bidders for the Paddar Sphire mines and the process is expected to complete soon. However, even after around four years the process seems ending no where.
Who will believe that in this age it is impossible to rescue the Paddar sapphire mines from being ravaged by vandals and smugglers during winter? An official version to the effect that there indeed is a problem leaves us baffled. Asmuggling racket in which sapphires worth Rs 35 lakh have been seized reveals quite a few chinks in our safety apparatus.
As reported earlier by this newspaper, a small posse of five to seven police personnel which protects the front portion of the mines during summer altogether abandons them once the winter sets in. Why should it happen? It is true that the Paddar valley rising as high as more than 15000 feet is the farthest corner of Kishtwar district touching idyllic Zanskar in the Ladakh region and the adjoining state of Himachal Pradesh.
The mines are situated in highly rugged terrain of the Himalayas which is mostly snow bound. The working season there is between July and September. During this period too the temperature seldom exceeds 10 degree Celsius. In the mines the temperature is said to be mostly minus 2 to minus 10 degree Celsius.
The short extraction period — apart from the widespread perception about the adverse security scenario — is the reason for global players to keep off offers for exploring the area. There is little that one can do if investors from other states and abroad are less than keen in helping us out. Why should we, however, be not able to set our house in order? It is said that the location is a big deterrent.
From the district headquarters of Kishtwar to Atholi, a distance of 60 kilometres is covered by a fair-weather road and from Atholi to Sumcham, where the mines are situated, there is a distance of 40 kilometres through the bridle path only. It means that it takes two to three days for the police party to travel from one end to the other. Is this the only place in the State which has such difficult topography?
There are several populated helmets which are in a worse condition. Their inhabitants overcome hardships everyday unless when devastated by natural calamities like snow avalanches. Don’t we assist them to live a normal life? Don’t we protect the Jawahar Tunnel through the mighty Pir Panjal against all vagaries of weather? Are our jawans not posted in Siachen, the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, so that we in the rest of the State and the country can sleep comfortably? Why should we then be found wanting in looking after such a big source of income as the Paddar mines are? We are constrained to say that the argument that the land and weather are treacherous does not cut much ice. There are necessary facilities available these days to ensure a comfortable stay for the police men everywhere snow or no snow. How do the villagers live in the same vicinity throughout the year?
Yes, for any such exercise to be meaningful we have to commercially exploit the mineral wealth with a high degree of efficiency. For this we have to gear up our own resources. As it is we don’t have evaluation of deposits in the area. Does this not mean that our homework leaves much to be desired? We have limited infrastructure at the mines. We always keep grumbling about financial restraints. Why don’t we achieve the returns which may far exceed the expenditure? The collective effect of our negative attitude is that we have done very little mining. Instead, we have left the doors open for all those wanting to loot and scoot. Paddar sapphires are compared with the best in the world, the other notable places being Myanmar, Madagascar and Sri Lanka. It is said that it is characteristic of equally prized ruby to be found along with blue sapphire in the mines as both of them belong to the same corundum family. Have we ever heard of any such valuable find being made in our mines in the picturesque Kishtwar district?