Kashmir Activists Rally to Save Chinar Trees

Srinagar: The Kashmir Valley witnessed a surge in tourist footfall during the autumn (October-November) and most of the visitors turned up to behold the magical hues of the season called Harud by the locals. The falling of golden leaves of trees, particularly mighty Chinars on the ground, lured tourists of their visit.

However, many of Kashmir’s ecologists and tree lovers rue the large-scale cutting down of the Chinars-often illegally- across the Valley including for government-sponsored infrastructure activities.

According to the officials of Jammu and Kashmir’s Forest Department, there were more than forty thousand Chinars in the Valley and its neighbourhood until a few decades ago but the number has decreased by half. “No credible data is available on the present status; however, estimates range from 17,000 to 25,000,” said one of the officials.

Alarmed at disappearing or decaying of Chinars, the icon of the Valley, in their neighbourhood, conscience groups of Kashmiri people with local conservationists and dendrophiles are actively involved in a campaign to ensure the majestic tree does not suffer further damage at the hands of unscrupulous elements or owing to official apathy.

Apart from reporting illegal felling of or inflicting damage to the tree to the police and concerned department and staging sit-ins whenever and wherever Chinar is threatened, they are using social media platforms to educate the people on the importance of Chinar.

Also, various NGOs, awakened to the ruin, have over the past few years spearheaded a campaign to preserve the tree and make conscious efforts to undertake plantation of this tree not only in the Valley but in other states as well. The tree has been successfully planted in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Meerut. But the size and girth attained in these places are not parallel to those of the tree in the Valley.

Zarief Ahmed Zarief, a noted Kashmiri poet, social activist and dendrophile, moves from place to place to tell people about Chinar being a symbol of Kashmir's cultural, religious, and natural heritage.” Through his stanzas and passionate word-of-mouth campaign, “I try to make the people understand that Chinar is our shoob (grace) and we must not allow it to be harmed or destroyed.”

Various social media platforms used for the ‘Save Chinar’ awareness campaign “expose” before both public and the higher-ups in the government corrupt officials who after allegedly accepting bribes or under political pressure facilitate felling of green Chinars. Further, it pinpoints when a Chinar tree(s) falls prey to infrastructure development such as widening of roads or expansion of railway tracks. While felling Chinar is banned under law, both government and general public have been found indulging in acts that have contributed to the dwindling number of this tree.

However, the officials of the J&K Floriculture Department said that thousands of Chinar saplings are, a part of an ambitious programme, planted in the Kashmir Valley and parts of the Jammu region on the world Arbor Day, Navroz and other special occasions every year. Also, the government had some time announced to observe March 15 as the Chinar Plantation Day.

Called Booune in the Kashmiri language, the majestic Chinar tree could be seen in almost every village of the Valley until recently. The Kashmiris are passionate about the tree for one experiences a cool breeze under its shadow which is also good for health.

Late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi was so fond of the tree that she would visit the Valley, the birthplace of her forefathers, in autumn almost every year when the colour of its leaves turns red and the tree is at its most elegance and exuberance. With the aim of demonstrating deference to her feeling, a Chinar sampling was planted beside her Samadhi-Shakti Sathal-in Delhi soon after her cremation in 1984 which has now grown into an average size tree.

Chinar’s scientific name is platanus orientalis. Its family is plataneae. The native range of the Oriental plane includes, at least, Eurasia from the Balkans to Iran. Some accounts extend its native range to Iberia in the west, and to the Himalaya in the east. As it has been known for cultivation from early times in much of this region, it can be difficult to determine if it is truly indigenous. It is often called Platane or related names in Europe and Chinar or related names from Turkey to Kashmir. However, the Chinar of the Valley is of gigantic size making it distinctive.