Physics Wallah ad filmed in Gulmarg forest sparks outrage, FIR filed over ‘damage to ecology’

An advertisement by edtech major Physics Wallah has landed the company in trouble after a video showing six black Scorpio SUVs driving through the lush Baderkote forest near Gulmarg went viral, sparking outrage over ecological damage in Kashmir’s fragile ecosystem.

The video, part of a promotional campaign for Toofan — the company’s initiative for Classes 9 to 12 — was shot in the Tangmarg area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. It showed vehicles without registration plates cruising across green meadows and forest stretches, drawing sharp criticism from locals and environmentalists alike.

Acting on a complaint by Forest Range Officer Gulmarg, Iftikhar Ahmad Qadri, the police registered an FIR at Tangmarg police station. The complaint stated that the “vehicles were driven off-road over the green meadows in forest area, resulting in damage to various herbs and other flora… thus violating the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.”

Officials said the vehicles entered the forest area “without any permission from any competent authority” and confirmed after field verification that the video had indeed been shot inside the protected Baderkote forest block.

Police have booked the case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to mischief, criminal trespass, and damage to government property, in addition to provisions of the Forest Act.

The controversy comes just weeks after a similar case in central Kashmir’s Budgam, where several YouTubers were booked for driving vehicles through the Breinwar forest meadows, causing damage to its delicate alpine vegetation.

The latest incident has reignited public anger over the misuse of Kashmir’s scenic landscapes for social media and promotional content, with environmentalists warning that such acts erode the Valley’s already fragile ecology.