Neelam Valley Padder

     SAPPHIRE/NEELAM VALLEY

                      PADDER

Sapphire is a gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, an alumunium oxide (α-Al_2O3). It is typically blue in color, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors. The only color which sapphire cannot be is red – as red colored corundum is called ruby, another corundum variety. Pink colored corundum may be either classified as ruby or sapphire depending on locale. This variety in color is due to trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium.

 There is a chance discovery of Sapphire (नीलम) “pride of J&K” mines in Padder pargana in 1881 A.D., during the Dogra rule of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. The mines are located at a height of about 4,267 meters or 14,000 feet above sea level on mountain top above mountain top above Sunchan village some 40 kilometers from Atholi. In 1881 A.D., there was hardly any habitation in the village. Sunchan is 3385 meters or 1,100 feet above sea level. Maharaja appointed an officer to look after the affairs of these mines. Necessary measures were taken to protect the mines. A department of mining was established in 1909 A.D. which was later on named as J&K Minerals Ltd. The extraction work has been stopped for the last two decades.

The decision about scientific extraction of the world-wide famous sapphire was taken in the year 2007 and at that time the Government had ordered for sending teams of experts to Padder for deciding modalities for preparation of integrated mining plan followed by floating of global tenders. 

Subsequently, the global tenders were floated for inviting expression of interest (EOI) for scientific extraction of sapphire from Padder mines. Around seven companies participated in the EOI and three of them were shortlisted by a committee constituted for the purpose. The Government has continued manual extraction of the Sapphire from Padder mines and during the year 2008, around three to four kilograms of rough Sapphire was extracted thereby raising the total quantity of sapphire with the Department to around 14 kilograms. 

After a long gap of 20 years when the sapphire extracted from Padder mines in Kishtwar was put up for auction in the state and for the first time in the winter capital, some prickly issues which the government has always preferred to avoid too cropped up. Though this time the auction of 34 lots of rough sapphire corundum with varied weights fetched a handsome amount of Rs 1.31 Cr, a far greater amount earned in the last auction held in Srinagar in 1988, yet the connoisseurs of this precious stone were not very appreciative of the quality of 40 lots on sale. This was in spite of the fact that Padder sapphire is perceived to be the best in the entire world for its unmatched qualities of durability, variety and beauty. 

Undoubtedly, industries sector in the State has lagged far behind in making a valuable contribution towards the economic development of the State. This area has been a victim of negligence, slackness and apathy. It is only now that authorities have begun to rivet attention on this sector in the hope that it will contribute stoutly to the economic health of the State.
We have the J&K Minerals Ltd. a public undertaking which has been granted permission for exploration and exploitation of mineral wealth of the State. So far no minerals that would strongly contribute to the economic health of the State have been explored and exploited. This may take time because it is not that easy to identify which mineral is deposited where. Nevertheless, some minerals have been identified to be extant at certain places in the State. In district Kishtwar, we have sapphire mines in Paddar area. It is a distant place not easily accessible.
More than four years ago in 2013, it was decided to invite intentional tenders for the exploration and exploitation of sapphire mines in Paddar. From the tentative reports of the J&K Minerals Ltd. the Paddar sapphire is of high quality in colour and transparency. It can easily compete and excel sapphires found elsewhere in the world. But the J&K Minerals have no idea about the quantum of sapphire available in the extant mines. For this purpose and also for proper exploitation, assistance from international bidders was thought to be the right way and tenders were floated. Three years and half have passed and still the floating of international tender has not reached logical conclusion. We understand that the process of finalising the international bids is a very complex matter but in the case of Paddar sapphires the matter has got stuck up in the labyrinth of official routine. Additionally, the lackadaisical attitude of the functionaries of the J&K Minerals Ltd. is also contributing to inordinate and indefinite delay in the exploration and exploitation process.
People of the area of Kishtwar think that even the PDP-BJP Coalition Government does not evince any interest in the development of the backward area of Kishtwar. Exploration and exploitation of Paddar sapphire mines would have salutary impact on the economy of the region and would also provide employment to many youth in the region. Amusingly, till date the Request For Proposal (RFP) has not been formulated for circulation among the shortlisted parties for the purpose of obtaining final bid to facilitate selection of joint venture partner.
Apart from the sapphire mines in Paddar, we would like to say that J&K Minerals needs to expand as well as intensify its activities of exploring other minerals in different parts of the State. In that sense it is a virgin state because it has remained unexplored. The Government should shun apathy towards this sector and make adequate allocations in the annual budget so that the task of exploring more mineral sites can be undertaken. In particular search for coal, gas and copper should be intensified. It should be among the plan of mineral explorations to invite expert companies from abroad to investigate existence of various metals and minerals in the mountains and plains of the State. In short the necessary boost to mineral wealth of the State needs to be given.