3.86 lakh kanal of J&K’s forest land under illegal grab

Srinagar, Oct 2: The forests of Jammu and Kashmir should have been humming with the music of birds and whispering pines.

Instead, silence lingers over stumps and scars land where trees once stood tall now bear the burden of concrete, ploughed fields, and creeping settlements.

J&K, already at the frontline of climate chaos, is quietly bleeding its greatest shield against disasters: its forests.

A reply to a recent Right to Information (RTI) query filed by an RTI activist M M Shuja and furnished by the department on August 22, amidst the ongoing series of ‘nature’s fury’ has laid bare the scale of the crisis: 3.86 lakh kanal of forest land in J&K has been encroached upon, while the government itself has been “diverting” protected green zones for “development”.

The data further shows that more than 82,000 kanal of forest cover has disappeared since 2001, accelerating soil erosion and stripping the region of its natural defenses against flash floods, landslides, and cloudbursts.

In the fragile J&K ecosystem where every tree counts, the vanishing forests are not just an environmental concern but a warning sign of disasters spiraling out of human hands.

The massive loss of green cover has long been linked to devastating climate-related disasters, including landslides, flash floods, record-breaking temperatures, and sudden flooding.

Experts have said that the deforestation and unchecked ecological destruction exacerbate the impact of climate change.

The RTI shows much of the destruction has been in decades of making.

The Statistical Division of the J&K Forest Department has said that 19,547.27 hectares, which roughly translates into 3.86 lakh kanal of forest land, is under encroachment.

The total forest land in J&K spans over 20,194 sq km. Although by numbers, the forest land encroached is approximately 1 percent of the total forest land in J&K, the location and nature of encroachment adds to the vulnerability.

A revelation has also come from Kathua that the forest land is not only being encroached upon but is also being ‘diverted’ to other departments by the government itself for “development”.

As per an RTI reply furnished by the Office of the Wildlife Warden Kathua, 506 kanal (25.62 hectares) of ‘protected area’ of the forest was transferred to another government department for development on August 15 this year, amidst the weather fury that was unfolding over J&K and other Himalayan regions.

Other data sources reveal that conversion of forest land to other uses has accelerated dramatically in recent years.

Between 2001 and 2023, J&K lost 82830 kanal (4190 hectares) of forest cover as per Global Forest Watch.

Environment experts draw a direct link between the loss of forest cover and the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters:

The Himalayas in J&K are prone to cloudbursts because of two weather systems that converge over the mountains – the western disturbances and the south-west monsoons.

Director Meteorological Department J&K, Mukhtar Ahmed, said when moisture from these systems hits the Himalayas, it forms heavily loaded clouds that eventually drip, causing intense rains and cloudbursts.

“Forests traditionally help regulate this moisture and stabilise the soil, but deforestation has exposed the soil,” he said.

Vice Chancellor (VC) Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) and renowned environment researcher, Prof Shakeel Romshoo, said forests act as natural barriers and absorb not just the greenhouse gases, but the excess rainfall and prevent erosion, landslide, and flash floods.

“Loss of green cover, conversion of forest land into agricultural land, and then agricultural land into residential and industrial land will have an impact, and a serious impact,” he said.