Anantnag: The sleuths of the forest department last night thwarted an attempt of smuggling when they seized a truck-load of willow clefts trying to move outside at Qazigund area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district along the national highway.
An official said on a tip of a truck bearing registration number JK-08 H-8513 was stopped by the forest employees near Mir Bazar, Qazigund.
“The driver of the truck tried to dodge the sleuths but his attempt was foiled,” he said.
An official said the vehicle was put to the physical check and it was found fully loaded with willow clefts wrapped in bags.
“ Two non-locals one a driver of the vehicle-Rajoo and another Rakesh Kumar who claimed to work in a bat manufacturing unit were also held,” he said.
An official said the vehicle along with the seized willow clefts were handed over to Forest Protection Force (FPF) for further investigation.
“ The preliminary reports suggest the truck had been loaded by two mills at Chachkoot near Awantipora and had no EV bill,” he said.
An official said an FIR under the forest manual act has already been registered.
Divisional Forest Officer DFO (Anantnag), Muhamad Ramzan Mir under whose supervision the operation was carried said,“ We are estimating the total number of cleft bags and their cost,” he said.
A source, however, put the cost at around Rs 40 lakh and said it was to be supplied to a person in Kathua.
According to J&K Willow (Prohibition on Export Act 2000), the export of willow clefts, the raw material for manufacturing cricket bats is not permissible.
However, the ban has remained ineffective undoing governments’ efforts to promote the bat industry.
220 units are operational in Bijbehara, Sangam ,Halmulah villages of Anantnag district and 180 in Pujteng, Sethar, Chachkoot, Kaichachkoot, Charsoo, Jawbara villages of Awantipora in Pulwama district.
As many as 35 lakh cricket bats are exported from Kashmir to other states annually.
With an annual turnover of more than Rs 100 crore, the cricket bat industry provides livelihood to thousands of people in Kashmir.
Low demand and the dearth of raw material are making things difficult for the bat manufacturers.
The sector is grappling with challenges in the absence of a modern seasoning cluster plant.
In the absence of these facilities, most of the bat manufacturers have to rely on open-air drying of willow clefts, which is slow and not up to the world standards.
The Kashmiri willow has high levels of moisture as compared to the English willow thus the bats made out of this willow are comparatively heavy.