Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 29: The timber smugglers have cleared a number of small trees in the Manasbal range of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, with the Forest Department citing the staff shortage for the lack of oversight in the forests.
The smugglers have not only cleared the small trees but also resorted to girdling several trees, a technique used to naturally kill them. The devastation of the half-cut tree trunks and girdled trees can be seen throughout the forest range, depicting how the department’s afforestation measures are being negated by the cutting down of small trees.
Residents said that afforestation efforts are ongoing, but simultaneously, small, non-existing pads are being cleared in the forests. “The afforestation campaign is part of the Green initiative, but there are concerns about forest clearing happening under the department’s watch,” a local said.
District Forest Officer Danish Khan acknowledged the staff shortage, saying, “We lack permanent staff. Currently, there are only two casual laborers. An officer from another block has recently been given additional charges and is now overseeing two blocks. There is an acute shortage of staff, but we are addressing it.”
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