Chinar trees ‘felled’ in Anantnag, NC MLA demands investigation

Environmentalists and political leaders have expressed concerns over the alleged felling of Chinar trees in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. However, the authorities have clarified that “pruning and lopping” were carried out and not the uprooting of any Chinar trees.

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In light of the controversy, National Conference MLA from Bijbehara Bashir Ahmad Veeri has urged the National Green Tribunal to take cognisance of the situation and called for accountability. He also requested that the Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag initiate a high-level inquiry into the matter, take action against those responsible and impose fines to deter further destruction.

The Environmental Policy Group (EPG), a local environmental advocacy organisation, denounced the alleged destruction of centuries-old Chinar trees in Rani Bagh, Anantnag.

The group emphasised that these trees held immense historical, cultural and ecological significance, and their destruction would represent a flagrant violation of established laws designed to protect them.

According to the Environmental Policy Group, this tragic event comes on the heels of an important geo-tagging initiative undertaken by the Jammu and Kashmir Government, which aimed to safeguard Chinar trees across the region, making these developments all the more shocking and intolerable.

The group said the action had raised significant concerns regarding the impact on local biodiversity and the environment.

The EPG has 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. Furthermore, all ongoing and future projects that may pose risks to heritage trees must prioritise alternative solutions that preserve these valuable assets,” it said.

The government recently embarked on a mission to preserve them by giving each tree a unique identity. Under this initiative, the government has begun geo-tagging 10,000 Chinar trees, a symbol of Kashmir’s natural heritage.

Environment activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat said, “Chinar trees in the middle of Rani Bagh in Anantnag have been vandalised under the garb of lopping.”

PDP leader Iltija Mufti said, “On even days, the J&K Govt geo-tags Chinar trees promoting conservation, but on odd days, 500-year-old Chinar trees, symbolising history and & the very passage of time itself, are felled.”

“Infuriating and puzzling. No excuse whatsoever can justify this travesty,” she wrote on X.

Floriculture Officer Mazhar Mustafa Ansari said the pruning and lopping work was carried out after taking proper permission. “There were dry Chinars, for which pruning and lopping work has been done, no Chinar tree was uprooted in the process,” he told The Tribune.