Timber smuggling takes sheen off prized Sonawari nurseries

Hajin, Jan 9 : The dense tree nursery, which used to be the ‘pride’ of this held Kashmir town, is barren now. Spanning over more than five kilometers here, there are just few trees standing—only stumps as far as human sight can see.

 The felling of trees by smugglers in ‘convenience’ with some government officials in the town has assumed alarming proportions, according to locals. “If the speed of felling of trees continues this way, there would be no trees at all in this place next year,” they told Greater Kashmir.

 One of the reasons smugglers were getting free hand in looting green gold is the government’s indifference towards the area. “There is no one to look into this issue. Instead, some of the officials are facilitating smugglers in looting the nurseries. This has been going on for years now,” a local said.

 The loot, according to locals, is taking place in far-flung villages of the town, down on the banks of Wullar Lake.

 There are almost a dozen villages wedging on the Wullar Bank. Locals here are completely dependent on agriculture and forests. People have a livestock of almost 50000. “We have just two hopes: one is agriculture and the other forests. We are dependent on nurseries to rear our cattle. If the trees continue to fell, we have nowhere to go,” the locals of Sonawari villages said.

 The locals said they have many a time appealed to the district administration to make a survey but “nobody is listening to us.”
 “It is absolutely clear that smuggling of trees in taking place in connivance with officials. Otherwise a survey of the area would have exposed everything. Even though we have appealed to authorities, no action is taken on ground,” said Abdul Ahad, 58, who has a livestock of 500 sheep.

 Ahad said not only smugglers but forest department was too ‘casual’ about ‘loot’ of nurseries in the town. “In the name of firewood, Forest Department is providing logs to the Mohalla committees for use of hamam fuel. This is completely unjustified. The department is using Mohalla committees for the wrongdoings,” he said.

 Ahad’s claim is justified by the presence of hundreds of logs of wood outside Masjids in the town. “This is not firewood,” Muhammad Amin, a local said. “They are trees.”

 In-charge Station House Officer, Hajin, said no person has ever come to them with such a complaint. “We have our patrol parties on ground. But no one has ever come to us with the complaints of tree felling,” he said, adding that he will look into the matter.

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