A vast swathe of forest, about 13 km from Tosamaidan meadow in Budgam district, has been cut illegally by timber smugglers and local residents.
While local timber smugglers are the biggest culprits, local tourist guide Bashir said the forces who were deployed at the erstwhile Tosamaidan firing range had forced people to cut trees to clear forestland “for security reasons”.
Stumps of tens of hundreds of felled trees mark the landscape in the area, raising questions about the effectiveness of the forest protection force .
“I have myself seen how smugglers take advantage of nearly non-existent forest protection guards,” said a trekker, Atif (he desired to be identified by his first name only).
En route to the denuded forest, a road has been constructed for movement of military vehicles.
Forest officer Budgam Ghulam Muhammad Rafiqi said, “It’s true that there has been a heavy loss to the forests because of local residents and military presence.”
He said the forest department will plant trees in the coming days to compensate for the loss.
“In the coming years you will see a positive change in Tosimaidan,” he said.
Until a few years ago, Tosimaidan meadow was used as a firing range by the army since 1965. Several people had been killed and dozens maimed after stumbling upon unexploded shells.