India, March 14 -- I walked through Zadoora village in Pulwama this winter and saw something that turned my stomach.

Hillsides lay gouged open like wounds. Red earth stood naked under the sky. Trucks had carved deep ruts into what was once farmland. The air smelled of dust and diesel.

This was supposed to be protected land.

Kashmir's famous karewas, those flat-topped plateaus that hold our history in their layers, were disappearing, truckload after truckload.

I knew the law, and I had read the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act of 1957. I understood that clay, sand and bajri all count as minor minerals. I knew that anyone who wants to dig here needs Environmental Clearance from the State Environmental Impact Assessment...