SRINAGAR: Climate activists have raised an alarm over the construction of the new Jammu & Kashmir High Court complex in the Raika-Bahu forest area of Jammu for which over 38,000 trees would be felled.
The Raika-Bahu Forest area, which is spread over an area of 19 sq km of land, lies to the East of Jammu.
The construction work on the new judicial complex has begun.
The trees are being felled and the ground is being levelled after the no objection certificate (NOC) from the J&K Wildlife Department, Forest Department and other concerned departments. The new High Court complex will have 35 courtrooms with space for expansion of up to 70 courtrooms. It will also have chambers for 1,000 lawyers with space for further expansion.
The climate activists of Jammu under the banner of Climate Front Jammu are opposing the construction in the forest land and staged a protest against the construction on Wednesday. A woman climate activist said, “With 38,000 trees to be cut for construction of high court complex, hundreds of birds and animals will lose their habitat. The Raika forest, which is called ‘lungs of Jammu’, is home to over 150 species of plants and animals.
If we cut the ‘lungs of Jammu’ and go for concretisation then we don’t know what our future will be. It will lead to a climate crisis.” In 2019, J&K government had approved transfer of 40 hectares of Rakia forest land for construction of the High Court complex in Jammu.
The HC is presently located at Janipur area. Another climate activist said building the high court complex on 800 kanals of forest land and cutting 38,000 trees will lead to an increase in incidents of man-animal conflict. “We have created a zoo in Jammu, where animals are kept in cages while we have wild animals living in the Raika forest and now we are cutting the forests and destroying their habitat,” he said.
“The young generation will have to bear this cost. It will lead to massive environmental challenges. Infact, it is happening right now”. Meanwhile, even lawyers in Jammu are also up in arms against the proposed shifting of the high court to Raika forests. Young Lawyers Association (YLA), Jammu president Rohit Sharma said shifting the high court complex alone while other courts continuing to remain at the present location in Janipur would cause inconvenience not only to advocates but also to litigants.