Six Green Mulberry Trees Felled in Baramulla Nursery, Inquiry Recommends Action Against Official

Baramulla, Aug 18, KNT: Six green mulberry trees were allegedly felled at a government mulberry nursery in Nihalpora, Pattan, here in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district by a sericulture official, with a departmental inquiry finding that the trees were cut “illegally and beyond his competence” and recommending action against the official.

The incident concerns Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, an Operative in the Sericulture Development Department who had been given charge of Zone Pattan. According to the departmental inquiry report, Dar allegedly ordered the felling and uprooting of three big and three small green mulberry trees at the Nihalpora nursery on July 15.

The inquiry team, headed by the District Sericulture Officer, Baramulla, and comprising the Zonal Officers of Baramulla and Tangmarg and a Junior Assistant, inspected the nursery and found around 50 quintals of chopped mulberry wood stacked there.

The inquiry report, submitted by the District Sericulture Officer to the Additional Director, Sericulture Development Department, Kashmir, on August 12, said employees at the nursery confirmed that the six trees had been cut on the orders of Dar.

The report stated that Dar had allegedly acted beyond his competence and had not informed the district authorities about the felling.

According to the findings, a JCB was used to uproot the trees after duty hours at around 5 PM in the presence of Abdul Majeed Sofi, a nursery employee assigned to watch and ward duties. The uprooted trees were subsequently cut into logs.

The departmental report termed the incident a violation of the Jammu and Kashmir Mulberry Protection Act, 2006, and said the alleged unauthorised felling had generated resentment among the local population.

“The concerned officer has misused his powers and has not bothered to inform this office about the incident,” the inquiry report stated.

The report recommended that action be taken against Dar over the alleged violation.

However, despite the inquiry report being submitted nearly a month after the incident and the recommendation for action, no visible action against the official had emerged from the department till the time of filing this report.

Official sources said the Additional Director, Sericulture Development Department, Kashmir, had also been tasked with examining the matter and had recommended action under rules against the official.

The sources questioned the absence of any apparent follow-up despite the departmental findings, particularly when the inquiry had specifically attributed responsibility for the felling to the officer.

The Additional Director, Sericulture Development Department, Kashmir, and the Director of Sericulture could not be contacted for their comments despite attempts, as their phones were reportedly unreachable. [KNT]