Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 12: At least a dozen orchardists from Pattan area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district protested today against the administration’s decision to cut down their apple trees to make way for the construction of a road.
The orchardists gathered here at the Partap Park, Press Enclave and raised slogans in support of their demands. They said that the concerned Tehsildar and other officials entered their orchards today with cutters and earthmovers and destroyed at least 60 trees.
“They cut down apple trees that were up to 60 years old. We used to get about 2000 boxes of apples per year from these trees. We begged the officials, but they did not listen,” one protestor said.
They said that the officials had even violated court orders. “Few days ago, we moved to the court against the move and decision was in our favour but the officials did not pay any heed to the court orders,” protestors said, adding that they were not against road construction but had urged the administration to plan it in such a way that the least amount of damage was caused.
They requested that Lieutenant Governor, Monoj Sinha, should intervene in the matter to ensure that these poor farmers’ only source of income is not taken away.
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