Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 12: The sprawling 160 hectare Apple Valley located on outskirts of Pahalgam, , in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, which is famous for red and royal delicious apples and potential tourist attraction, is witnessing illegal construction these days.
With a production of almost 40,500 metric tons, the Apple Valley is spread over eight kilometres from Sirgufwara to Budroo and covers four villages including Hugam, Kanenwan, Kreeri and Chandipora. Almost 80 percent of the people in these villages grow apples.
Residents said the local administration is ‘tinged with corruption’ and are ‘hell-bent in turning’ this natural marvel into concrete jungle. They alleged that officials are hand in glove with some influential people who are illegally constructing hotels and restaurants in these apple orchards.
“No one is stopping them and it’s because of this non-stop construction there is no sustainable development. It has pushed up the apple belt from lower altitudes to higher hills hitting both fruit productivity and produce,” they said.
The local tourists are lured with fancy restaurants and hotels which only deteriorates our environment and contributes a little to our economy,” said, Mushtaq Ahmad, one of the local residents.
With an aim to attract more and more tourists, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department planned to develop Chineweder as Apple Valley but before the initiative could have kick started, some of the private players with vested interests are maligning the green belt with un-planned and illegal constructions.
“We are yet to complete the project. We wanted to promote horticulture tourism. Our plan is to construct 12 kiosks where we can exhibit and mark different trades of Kashmir like handicraft and saffron. So it would be used as information cum marketing place,” said Executive Engineer, Tourism, Afaq Ahmad, adding, “We have not cut a single apple tree. It would be just a stopover for tourists”.
Admitting that illegal constructions are taking place, Chief Horticulture Officer, Abdul Kabir Malla said, they only provide technical guidance to Government and cannot stop anyone from cutting apple trees except walnut trees.
“There is no doubt that people are constructing residential houses and shops but there is also no decrease in the total land cover. In fact under area expansion we have expanded to over 52 hectares of land. We are also planning to cultivate strawberries in the future,” he said.
When contacted, Chief Planning Officer, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat said he is ‘not sure’ whether the area where constructions are taking fall in his jurisdiction or not. “I am not sure whether it comes into my domain or not. But if it comes I will immediately inspect the location and check if there is any irregularity and stern action would be taken against the law breakers,” he added.
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