Srinagar, Aug. 29 -- He said that while Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Surinder Choudhary, had told the assembly in March that a private company, NKC Projects Pvt Ltd, was fined eight million rupees for illegal mining in the Shaliganga stream in Budgam, "[this] penalty money is yet to be recovered & the Mining Department officers told me that penalty amount was not Rs 80 Lakh but Rs 80,000 Only."

As this seemed to me a classic case of greenwashing, I quickly called the director of Jammu & Kashmir's Geology and Mining Department, Suraj Prakash Rukwal, to verify the claim and seek more details.

The call, however, went straight to a voice message that said, "your message has been forwarded."

Repeated attempts to reach him broug...