chapter 1: at the crossroads of soil and struggle

Since August 2019, when the Government of India revoked Jammu & Kashmir’s limited autonomy under Article 370, the region was immediately placed under an unprecedented lockdown—marked by a strict curfew, mass detentions, and a total communications blackout that stretched for months. This moment not only dismantled the constitutional framework that had previously offered Kashmir a distinct political status but also ushered in sweeping legal, economic, and administrative changes under direct central rule. 

Previously, land in J&K was primarily governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Land Acquisition Act, 1934, and a suite of local statutes such as the J&K Alienation of Land Act (1938), the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act (1950), and the J&K Land Grants Act (1960). These historic laws gave “permanent residents” significant protections: only state subjects could own land, and outsiders were barred from purchase or lease. Landmark reforms such as the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act redistributed large holdings from landlords to local tillers,  restricting ownership and supporting agrarian communities.



Together, Articles 35A and 370 shielded local populations from external land grab pressures and large-scale demographic change, forming the legal backbone for the region’s agrarian reforms and land redistribution from large landlords to local tillers post-1947.

In recent years, Jammu & Kashmir has witnessed an unprecedented wave of land acquisition by the Government of India under the banner of infrastructure and development. The construction of 30 new satellite townships alone accounts for nearly 118,000 kanals (14,750 acres) across the valley, transforming vast stretches of agricultural and horticultural land into urban clusters. The much-publicized Jammu Ring Road absorbed another 4,730 kanals (591 acres), reshaping the region’s physical and social landscape. Alongside urban expansion, a parallel drive for industrialization has seen more than 8,600 acres (close to 69,000 kanals) earmarked for new industrial estates, with Kathua district emerging as a hub for large-scale projects and fresh allotments.

These urban and industrial initiatives are tightly linked to the semi-Ring Road corridor, cutting through six central Kashmir districts. In Srinagar and Budgam, government notifications have designated 55 revenue villages as “no-construction zones,” freezing farmers’ ability to sell, develop, or even improve their land. While framed officially as “planned urban development,” the reality on the ground reflects large-scale expropriation: in Budgam alone, over 590 acres have already been taken for the Ring Road project, with compensation disputes unresolved. For farming families, this vision of progress translates less into opportunity and more into the slow erosion of their most vital resource—the land that feeds and sustains them.

The MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) report frames the Srinagar Ring Road as a strategic mobility project, emphasizing connectivity to “border/strategic areas” such as Baramulla, Uri, Kupwara, Bandipora, and Ganderbal. The language of the report highlights the road’s role in easing congestion and facilitating the movement of heavy machinery—signaling its dual function as both an urban infrastructure project and a logistical corridor for security and military purposes.

However, a closer reading reveals the political economy of infrastructure in conflict zones. The alignment traverses 52 villages across five districts (Pulwama, Budgam, Baramulla, Srinagar, and Bandipora)—areas with dense agricultural landholdings and a high dependence on farming. While the state presents the project as serving “inhabitants,” the primary beneficiaries, as implied by the report itself, are defense logistics and freight mobility rather than local communities. For villagers whose land has been acquired, this “greenfield alignment” translates into dispossession and disruption of agrarian livelihoods, often with opaque compensation mechanisms and limited avenues for redress.


Railways and highways provide another layer to this dramatic reshaping of Jammu & Kashmir’s land use: projects like the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link and other highway expansions together account for at least 5,000 additional kanals (over 625 acres). Recent data suggests that since August 2019, the cumulative area acquired for highways, military, and institutional development alone surpasses 6,600 kanals, with the total land converted for public projects likely exceeding 140,000 kanals (around 17,500 acres) by 2025. This ongoing and multifaceted spate of acquisitions signals not just rapid development but also a profound transformation in rural livelihoods and the region’s socio-environmental fabric. 


The conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural use is accelerating, undermining not only livelihoods but also food security in the valley.

Further, The Indian government has green-lit a major new infrastructure project: a 300-kilometre, four-lane highway linking Rajouri with Baramulla in north Kashmir, estimated at ₹3,300 crore. Officially designated NH-701A, this highway will trace portions of the existing Mughal Road and then extend as a new corridor, cutting across key areas such as Shopian, Magam, Yousmarg, Doodhpathri, Charar-e-Sharief, Pakherpora, Kellar, and Bafliaz before terminating near Surankote in Poonch. The project falls under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and includes consultancies for feasibility, detailed project reports, and construction oversight provided to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. Covering terrain in some of the most scenic—and also most agriculturally and culturally sensitive—parts of Kashmir, this road is billed as a much-needed alternative to the congested Jammu-Srinagar highway, with construction expected to begin soon and be completed within two years, followed by a five-year maintenance phase


These practices cannot be understood outside the colonial logic of land control. Across histories of empire, the first step in establishing dominance has been to reorder land tenure systems, dispossessing communities and severing their ties to territory. In Kashmir, the Jammu & Kashmir Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rules (2020) claims to provide safeguards, yet in practice, acquisitions have often bypassed these provisions. The reliance on outdated laws, such as the Jammu and Kashmir Land Acquisition Act of 1934, echoes a colonial-era strategy: to use legal frameworks not as protection, but as instruments of control.