Chinar felling stirs row in Valley, admin calls it ‘pruning’

Srinagar: Months after the Jammu & Kashmir government announced a “Tree Aadhaar” initiative to geo-tag the Chinar trees that have always been associated with the region so as to preserve their numbers, the felling of several of the trees, including some believed to be hundreds of years old, in a public park in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district , ostensibly for “pruning”, has outraged people across the Union Territory.

Photographs and videos showed massive trunks lying on the ground at Rani Bagh in Anantnag and residents have alleged that while the authorities granted limited permission to contractors for pruning dried branches at Rani Bagh, Sarnal and Kadipora, these approvals were used to extract maximum wood by bringing down the whole trees. Chinar wood is prized and sought after for carving and sculpting.

“There has been wanton destruction of Chinar trees in Rani Bagh. It is not pruning but mass killing of trees,” said a resident, Mohammad Aslam.

The government’s geo-tagging revealed that there were around 28,500 Chinar trees in the region. Referred to as the Oriental Plane ( Platanus orientalis), and locally known as Boueen , the tree can grow up to a height of 30 metres and girth of 10 to 15 metres at ground level, taking around 150 years to reach its full size. Its felling is banned under the Jammu and Kashmir Preservation of Specified Trees Act, 1969 , unless permitted by district authorities if there is a threat to life or property.

Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Sirgufwara-Bijbehara in Anantnag, Bashir Ahmad Veeri has taken cognisance of the issue.

“These pictures must be reported to the National Green Tribunal. Meanwhile, DC Anantnag should initiate a high-level inquiry, book the culprits for vandalizing public property, & impose heavy fines as a deterrent,” he added.

Dismissing the reports, district authorities said that they were cutting dry branches of the trees.

“It has come to our notice that misleading information is being circulated regarding illegal tree felling in Rani Bagh and Anantnag. It is factually incorrect and baseless. In Rani Bagh, many Chinars have dry branches. We had written a reminder to deputy commissioner and we had gotten permission from district administration for cutting dry branches,” said Mazhar Mustafa Ansari, district floriculture officer.

As per a 2018 census, there are around 6,222 Chinar trees in Anantnag district.

The geo-tagging and tree census, carried out by the J&K Forest Research Institute confirmed fears of a fall in the number of Chinar trees, whose numbers were once estimated at 42,000- 45,000.

Peoples Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti said: “On even days J&K govt. geo tags Chinar trees promoting conservation but on odd days 500 year old Chinar trees symbolising history & the very passage of time itself are felled. Infuriating & puzzling. No excuse whatsoever can justify this travesty,” she said on X.

The Environmental Policy Group (EPG), a civil society-driven environmental protection group, strongly denounced the “deeply distressing” felling of centuries-old Chinar trees in Rani Bagh, Anantnag.

The group said that the trees, believed to be over 500 years old, hold immense historical, cultural, and ecological value.

“Their destruction represents a blatant violation of the laws established to protect such heritage and a grave injustice to the legacy of Kashmir,” said the group convener Faiz Bakshi in a statement.

The group also pointed out that there has been insensitivity towards the Chinar trees among authorities.

“It is highly alarming that this incident is not isolated. Recent infrastructure development projects, including the widening of the Narbal-Delina road, saw the uprooting of over 100 Chinar trees. Earlier also EPG protested the cutting of Chinar trees in the parking area of the Wildlife Warden Kashmir’s office at Hokersar Wetland. The widening of the Narabal-Baramulla Road has further exacerbated the situation, leading to the removal of several Chinar trees along the route up to Delina,” the group said.

EPG demanded an immediate and independent investigation into the felling of the Rani Bagh trees and any similar incidents stemming from infrastructure development or negligence.

“All those responsible for permitting or executing such destruction must be held accountable under the law,” it said.