Avinash Azad
The J&K government faced sharp scrutiny in Tuesday’s assembly session as MLA Mir Mohammad Fayaz grilled officials over the Forest Department’s timber distribution policy and its impact on Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The government defended its 2016 framework, which assigns timber extraction and sales to the J&K Forest Development Corporation (JKFDC) via 211 Concessional Timber Sale Depots (CTSDs)—116 in Kashmir and 95 in Jammu—while the territorial Forest Department focuses on conservation duties like forest protection and nursery management.
Fayaz demanded answers on why BPL and Priority Household (PHH) families aren’t consistently receiving timber at concessional rates, citing 17 complaints of overpricing and denial over the past six months.
The government countered that timber is provided at subsidized rates per a 2018 order, but availability hinges on dead or dry trees, constrained by Supreme Court bans on green felling. In remote areas without depots, territorial divisions supply timber under regional notices, excluding Deodar. To address grievances, JKFDC is developing an online portal for transparent distribution, though no completion date was specified.
The MLA also raised concerns over illegal timber extraction’s environmental toll and black-market risks. The government insisted that only dead trees are harvested, per a 1996 Supreme Court ruling, minimizing ecological harm.
It claimed strict action—FIRs, departmental penalties, and even Public Safety Act invocations—deters illegal felling. Coordination between the Forest Department and JKFDC follows an annual action plan with fixed timelines for timber marking and extraction.
Fayaz pressed for a policy reversal, but the government stood firm, arguing JKFDC’s revenue-driven model and the territorial wing’s custodial role ensure accountability and curb pilferage.
Critics, however, see a system failing the poorest, with limited timber access and unresolved complaints painting a grim picture of neglect in J&K’s forest management.
