Aforestation on a mass scale should be made necessary so that forests can be saved from further degradation

It was December 1996 when the Supreme Court of India passed its historic judgement on the 1995 civil writ petition filed by T.N Godavarman Thirumulpad against the Union of India and others with respect to the cutting of trees in Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu. Later, taking cognisance of the extensive deforestation in the region the case was extended to include the seven North–Eastern states also by Supreme Court. To conserve the declined forests the Supreme Court laced its judgement with order and put a complete ban on the movement of cutting of trees and timber from the seven North-Eastern states to any other state of the country either by rail, road or waterways. The state governments were accordingly directed to take all measures necessary to ensure strict compliance with these directions. In this manner, the directions regarding the ban on cutting green trees in the state of Jammu and Kashmir put a hold on green cutting and the forests in the state got relief from cutting down more and more green standing trees which were active on a large scale before mainly for economic development purpose
The state government was directed that there will be no green felling of trees permitted in any forest public or private however the dry fallen/standing and uprooted trees in forest plantations comprising of trees planted by private persons or the Social Forestry Department of the State of Jammu and Kashmir were kept away from this ban and movement of such trees was allowed strictly in accordance with the law. It was further instructed that the state government may either departmentally or through State Forest Corporation remove and extract the diseased, fallen and dry standing timber and trees felled if any under natural calamity only from the areas other than those notified under the Jammu and Kashmir Wild Life Protection Act, 1978 or any law banning such felling or removal of trees and thereof this timber obtained shall be utilized within the state, preferably to meet the timber and fuel wood requirements of the local people, the government and other local institutions. The order also directed all state governments to constitute within one month an expert committee to identify irrespective of its class or ownership, all sawmills, veneer or plywood industries operating in the state and to assess the sustainability of the forests and the timber need.
This was the first major step in the past decades when the Supreme Court after long discussions with various legal and forest experts upheld this view and realised that such measures are necessary for the survival of green gold and the sustainability of forests and to stop the environment from further degradation. This judgement was looked a major victory by environmentalists, forest experts and wildlife lovers as the felling of green forests not only disturb the habitat of wildlife but it also increases soil erosion, water scarcity, and rise in temperature which in turn increase adverse effect both on the environment and humanity.
Despite the above instructions of the judiciary, the cutting down of green trees in Jammu & Kashmir by timber smugglers to earn fast money on the one hand and the government largely on the other hand for the development purpose continues at an alarming rate from last few decades without realising its serious consequences on the environment. The number of projects including those which were carried out in inner and densely forest covers and eco-sensitive areas has left a heavy impact on the environment after they were approved and cleared by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) along with allied departments through its various decisions in the last few years. Under these development projects, the green trees were enumerated and cut down without feeling any concern as these trees were found obstacles in the way of this infrastructural development. The best example is the Ujh multipurpose project in Jammu for which about 4350 hectares of land have been utilised out of which the Forest Department diverted over 680 hectares of forest land. In this project, as per the experts, about two lakh trees faced axe in order to pave the way for this ambitious project and thereof laying transmission lines. This project, as per the experts, not only created ecological imbalance but also micro-climate changes were observed. Due to the loss of big forest cover, it has left an impact on wildlife and the environment.
The government in order to compensate for this environmental loss has proposed the afforestation in 15 patches on around 1300 hectares of land, double the size of the land diverted for Ujh project but the sites identified were found on high altitudes as per resources and non-accessible and therefore compensatory afforestation programme could not get completed so far. Similarly, the Pakal Dul, Kishangaga Hydroelectric power project, Alstang-Leh transmission line and Jallandhar-Samba-Amargrah, etc are some other examples where countless trees faced axe for the construction of projects and thereof laying of transmission lines for supply of generated electricity to other areas. This has led to vast environmental degradation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The second major factor under which the trees were cut down is the construction of roads in forest premises to facilitate road connectivity to various far-flung villages under different programmes mainly PMGSY and other organisations.
After 2019, a surge in this activity was observed. Under a series of decisions, a number of forest lands were identified both in Jammu and Kashmir division for infrastructural development by the authorities of Union Territory of J&K. For this purpose, as per reports, in the Jammu region, 42,000 acres of land and in Kashmir, about 15,000 acres has been identified for development of infrastructure proposes and accordingly, the FAC has approved various projects in a short period coming under designated forest land.
Therefore, it is time to provide long rest to forests in Jammu and Kashmir control fires and proper utilisation of forest land. Above all, aforestation on a mass scale should be made necessary and also regulated to stop further cutting of trees so that forests can be saved from further degradation.
The author can be reached at [email protected]

Ashaq Hussain Wani