Amid Covid-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of female poplars have been ordered to be axed in the Kashmir after fears that the pollen generated by the trees during the spring season could become carriers of the coronavirus.
A lawyer recently moved the J&K high court, contending that pollens of the trees remain in the air between 25 to 30 days and may create havoc for humans with respiratory diseases as it has the potential to hold the virus.
The top court, common to the newly carved out UTs, asked government to take necessary action if the lawyer’s contentions hold any weight.
Subsequently, orders came to be issued by all Deputy Commissioners asking the locals to fell the trees or face action.
The administration has even threatened to file an FIR against those who disobey the order even as it maintains that the authorities will later fell these trees and auction them on their own. It’s a challenging job as unofficial estimates suggest existence of over 15 million such trees across the Valley and their population is growing every year.
Opinion is split over the felling of the trees with some experts contending that the axing is without any sound scientific basis and that there was need for a proper cost-benefit analysis needed. Others, mainly pulmonologists, stress on cutting the female trees, considering the allergies the poplars trigger in the Valley during ending April to May.
In 2015, the High Court had observed that it was a “common knowledge that pollen seeds of poplars of Russian species adversely affect health of the general public, mostly of elderly people and children and that the pollen seeds of these trees had given rise to chest diseases in the valley. The top court of J&K had thus ordered the non-native poplar’s eradication from Kashmir. However as the things stand, the order was largely observed in breach. One of the theories doing rounds about the non-compliance of the orders is linked to mafia associated with pharmaceutical companies dealing the medicine that treats patients afflicted with allergies with symptoms ranging from congestion, runny or itchy nose, sneezing.
While it is time that the government acts tough in ensuring eradication of the annual menace due to the female Russian poplars in the Valley, the administration should ensure only such trees are axed which are potentially dangerous.
Poplar Nuisance
