The high court Tuesday directed the government to inform within four weeks how it plans to deal with the menace of allergenic pollens from Russian poplars.
A division bench of Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey and Justice Sanjeev Kumar asked state’s additional advocate general Asifa Padroo to inform the court about the plans. Padroo had requested the court to grant the government four weeks so that it could implement the court order dated 26 December 2018.
On December 26 last year, the government had informed the court that a survey conducted by the social forestry department had confirmed that pollens from the female Russian poplars species caused allergies. The court had then asked the government to come up with an action plan to deal with the problem.
In June 2016, the high court had directed all deputy commissioners to order cutting of Russian species poplars across Kashmir as “the menace of poplar trees of Russian species has caused havoc with health of people”.
However, some people had moved the court with the pleas that the poplars were not harmful and indiscriminate felling of trees should not be allowed without ascertaining facts.