J&Okay CM Omar Abdullah makes sturdy pitch in opposition to amendments to Jammu and Kashmir Preservation of Specified Bushes Act, 1969
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullahon Monday, made a powerful pitch in opposition to a invoice introduced by his personal get together MLA that seeks to grant landowners the fitting to chop walnut timber on their property.Omar mentioned passage of the invoice would hurt the nation’s largest walnut financial system, of which Kashmir accounts for about 90 per cent, and would rob J&Okay of a key a part of its id.The invoice, moved by Nationwide Convention legislator from Pahalgam, Altaf Ahmad Wani, sought amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Preservation of Specified Bushes Act, 1969, to permit felling of walnut timber on personal land.Underneath the 1969 regulation, no individual is allowed to chop a walnut tree, whether or not on personal or state land, with out prior permission from the competent authority, and any violation of the regulation attracts a tremendous starting from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000.Defending his invoice, Wani mentioned the regulation is creating an enormous drawback for landowners as walnut timber occupy important house, round three timber per kanal (0.05 hectares), they usually do not give affordable income to landowners.He mentioned walnuts had been as soon as a significant supply of revenue in Kashmir, however many of the timber have aged and stopped yielding. Wani mentioned harvesting is basically carried out by the house owners themselves, and through the years, many individuals have been injured and died as a consequence of falls from timber through the harvesting. He advocated changing getting older timber with high-density plantations.“It’s a unusual regulation the place I’m not allowed to chop a tree standing alone land. One has to knock on many doorways to get permission, which has grow to be a supply of corruption,” Wani mentioned.Omar, nonetheless, defended the restrictions, saying the regulation serves a broader goal of conserving walnut and chinar timber. He mentioned J&Okay produces about 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of walnuts yearly, round 90 per cent of the nation’s complete output.The CM mentioned walnut wooden is integral to the handicrafts trade, significantly wooden carving, and voiced concern that permitting felling of walnut timber may result in their substitute with concrete buildings. “I’m positive as soon as walnut timber are lower, house owners will construct homes or different constructions there,” Omar mentioned, including that the federal government may take into account modifications provided that felled timber would get replaced with walnut cultivation on the identical land.Although the walnut trade faces competitors from soft-shelled varieties from areas like California, Chile, Kashmiri walnuts are valued for his or her superior style. Main export locations for Kashmiri walnuts embody the UAE, Turkey, Iraq, Singapore, Algeria, Qatar, Bhutan, Kuwait, Seychelles and Nigeria.
