Government to move Supreme Court for stay on felling of apple trees

The state government will move the Supreme Court on Monday to seek a stay on the felling of apple trees on the encroached forestland. At present, the Forest Department is cutting down apple trees from the forestland on the orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. “The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Friday,” said Kuldeep Rathore, Congress MLA from Theog.

Rathore said that a consensus was reached in the meeting that the timing of axing apple trees wasn’t appropriate, and hence it was decided to seek a stay on the exercise. “A large scale cutting of apple trees during the monsoon can cause soil erosion and result in some kind of disaster. Also, the trees are laden with fruit at present,” he added.

The Forest Department is cutting down trees in Kotkhai and Kumarsain. In Kumarsain, a family has been evicted from a house built on forestland. The Seb Utpadak Sangh and the Himachal Kisan Sabha, affiliated with the CPM, have already started an agitation against the felling of trees and have given a call for a protest in front of the Secretariat on July 29.

The felling of trees has triggered an intense debate, especially on social media. Even as the Seb Utpadak Sangh and the Himachal Kisan Sabha are opposing the felling of trees, many are in favour of the High Court orders, especially in the case of well-off growers encroaching upon forestland to plant apple trees.

Himachal Tribune