SHOPIAN: Mohammad Ayaz, a 46-year-old resident of Shopian in south Kashmir, is the fourth child of his elderly parents, both in their eighties and bedridden for most of the year. Every year, he struggles to gather enough firewood to keep the family's hammam burning through the harsh winter months. Shopian is among the coldest places in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, making the traditional heating system essential for survival.
"It is only July, but I have already begun preparing to collect firewood because my parents are old, frail and confined to bed. I have to keep the hammam burning for nearly eight months every year. I have approached the department several times seeking firewood, but they have never paid any attention to my requests," Ayaz said.
Riyaz Ahmad, 35, from Shopian, applied for 350 square feet of Kayur timber in 2022 to construct his house. He said he made repeated visits to the Forest Department office for nearly a year, hoping his application would be processed. However, after receiving no response and with construction delayed, his family urged him to buy timber from a private depot despite the steep prices.
"I waited for almost a year and kept visiting the office, but nothing happened. In the end, I had no option but to buy timber from a private depot," Riyaz said.
According to him, his family managed to arrange the money, but he fears the situation is far worse for those who cannot afford timber in the open market.
"We somehow managed, but what about people who cannot? Are they supposed to wait for years to build a house?" he asked. "Kashmir has timber in abundance, yet for ordinary people the access is difficult, caught up in shortages and red tape. It is frustrating and unfair."
Altaf Hussain, 41, also applied for Kayur timber from the Forest Department for the construction of his house.
"I applied two years before starting construction because I knew the process was lengthy," he said.
Under the existing procedure, applicants seeking timber for house construction have to apply through a ration card, with each ration card entitling them to 50 square feet of timber.
"I needed 200 square feet of Kayur timber, so I collected four ration cards from my relatives. After making repeated visits to the department for two years and after much persuasion, I finally received only 100 square feet. I had to buy the remaining 100 square feet from a private timber depot," Altaf said.
He alleged that it is nearly impossible for an ordinary person to obtain timber from the department without personal connections with somebody higher up in the department.
"There are plenty of fallen trees in the forest, but the department does not process them in time and leaves them to decay. When you approach the department for timber, they offer this decayed wood, which has a lot of wastage and is not suitable for construction," he alleged.
Rashid Hussain, 35, a tracker from Hirpora in Shopian, the last village on the Mughal Road towards Poonch, said he frequently treks to Dubjan and other forest areas.
"There is nothing unusual about it. You can see fallen trees in abundance. Because of the difficult terrain, it may be hard for the Forest Department to locate and retrieve them for distribution among the public."
He added that construction activity is increasing across Jammu and Kashmir, including in Hirpora, which is witnessing a tourism boost. As more people build houses, commercial buildings and shops, the demand for timber has risen.
However, due to the shortage of timber supplied by the department, many people are forced to purchase it from private timber depots.
"We are the neighbours of the forest and so, it is our right. Timber should be provided to us at subsidised rates, as weaker sections of society cannot afford to buy it from private depots," he said.
Officials Cite Policy, Jurisdiction and Supply Constraints
A Forest Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that even as an employee of the department, he has been unable to obtain timber for constructing his own house.
"The irony is that I am an official of the department, yet I applied for timber in 2023 and am still waiting."
He said that Jammu and Kashmir has abundant forest resources, but flawed policies have prevented their effective utilisation.
"Nature has bestowed us with ample resources, but due to wrong policies we are unable to utilise them properly."
The official further said that until 2016, the Forest Department was responsible for distributing timber and firewood to the public, and there was no major shortage. However, after the responsibility for selling timber to the public was transferred to the State Forest Corporation (SFC) in 2016 by the then PDP-BJP government's Forest Ministry under Lal Singh, the shortage worsened.
According to him, the corporation lacks the manpower and field network that the Forest Department has, making it difficult to meet the growing demand for timber and firewood.
Kashmir Times spoke to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Shopian-Pulwama Forest Division, Qamar Rashid Khan. Responding to questions about the shortage of timber and firewood, he said that many of the affected areas fall under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Department and, therefore, the Forest Department cannot interfere.
"Wherever the forest areas fall under our jurisdiction, we hand over the marked trees to the State Forest Corporation (SFC). The decayed material is distributed to mosques for use as firewood," he said.
On the reported firewood shortage, Khan said, "I think orchard firewood is cheaper than ours, so people prefer buying that. We have availability, but no one has approached us. No grievance regarding a firewood crisis has come to my notice."
Kashmir Times also spoke to SFC Divisional Manager, Shopian-Pulwama, Khurshid Gul.
"We are bound to extract only the material assigned to us by the Forest Department. Whatever timber we receive is supplied to sale depots and Consumer Public Sale Depots (CPSDs). We are achieving the targets set by the government," he said.
Responding to a question about the large number of pending applications for timber on subsidized rates in Shopian and Pulwama, Gul said, "There were around 7,000 applications over the last three to four years, and we have disposed of nearly 6,000 of them. The process is now online. People apply online, and once the Forest Department marks the trees, we extract and distribute the timber. Due to wildlife restrictions, we cannot extract trees that have not been marked by the Forest Department."
Experts Call for Scientific Extraction of Fallen Trees
Kashmir Times spoke to Peerzada Ishtiyaq, a scientist at the Faculty of Forestry, SKUAST-Srinagar (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir).
"It is impossible for people in the Union Territory to construct houses without using kiln-dried (KD) timber brought from outside, as our own forests are unable to meet the demand for construction timber," he said.
He added that dependence on forests extends beyond construction.
"People living near forests rely on fuelwood for their daily needs. For many, it is the primary source of energy for preparing their two daily meals and heating their hammams during winters."
Ishtiyaq asserted that fallen and decayed trees should be scientifically and sustainably extracted.
"This would not only generate revenue for the government but also create employment opportunities. In forest areas that are not protected forests or do not fall within wildlife zones, such material should be extracted so that people do not suffer."
He further said that the Forest Rights Act also recognises the use of such forest produce for human consumption.
"Fallen trees, particularly after the winter months, should be utilised as firewood instead of being left to decay in the forests," he said.
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