Kashmir tree protest is ignored

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6717731.stm

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A university in Indian-administered Kashmir has decided to build a guest house despite objections that it will threaten nearby chinar (plane) trees.

Environmentalists have been protesting against the construction in Naseem Bagh, a garden area of the capital Srinagar built by a Mughal emperor.

The Mughals planted more than 1,000 chinars in the garden, but only a few of the ancient giant trees remain.

Some 30,000 chinars have been lost in Kashmir in the past three decades.

About 100 students at the Kashmir University went on a two-day hunger strike last week in protest against the construction of the guest house.

One of them, Inamul Haq, vowed to carry on the protest.

"This garden is our national heritage. We cannot replace a chinar by another chinar within few years. Even if authorities expel us from the university, we'll continue our protest, " he said.

'No damage'

University Vice Chancellor Abdul Wahid said that the chinars are a great asset. But the university is not there to protect heritage, he added.

Mr Wahid said the guest house is being built about 8m away from the chinars so the trees will not be damaged.

But the state's chinar development officer warned that the trees spread their shallow roots far and wide and can survive only if construction takes place at a minimum distance of 50m.

He said if the guest house was built, it would trigger the "slow death of the chinar".

Known as the crown tree, the majestic chinar has become part of Kashmir's identity since it was introduced hundreds of years ago.

A survey conducted recently shows that more than 30,000 chinar trees - 65% of the total - have been lost over the past 30 years.

The number has dwindled from 42,000 in 1976 to a mere 16,000 today.