jOn 13th April 2026, the Sericulture Development Department issued an order stopping the cutting of 62 mulberry trees around Canal Avenue between Rawalpora bridge to Baghe Mehtab Mochwa in Srinagar. The order was issued after this author highlighted the axing of some 6 to 7 matured trees on April 12th afternoon. A local friend from Mochwa Baghe Mehtab sent me pics of the axed trees on April 12th 2026 and I immediately posted the same on social media and there was a massive public resentment. The post went viral and within a few hours it was viewed by almost 1 lakh people.Director Sericulture J&K Mr Ajaz Ahmad Bhat responded within a few hours. The officer was in Delhi but he assured to get this work stopped.Next day on April 13th 2026 he issued a fresh order to stop the feeling of these trees. The permission given by the Sericulture Department earlier to cut down 62 fully grown trees was cancelled immediately.
Request for Axing of 92 Mulberry trees
The Roads and Buildings DepartmentRajbagh division Srinagar had originally requested removal of 92 mulberry trees for widening the Bund Road. After field verification by the Additional Director of Sericulture and consultation with local officials, 62 trees were approved for removal through standing auction on 20th March 2026. It was only after protests from residents and sericulture workers that the Director stepped in and stopped the process.This article covers every aspect of what Srinagar stands to lose if these trees are cut — oxygen, health, clean air, flood safety, silk heritage, economy, cooling, and how the proposed walking track compares against the value of these living assets. All figures are based on government data, environmental research, and medical science.
How much Oxygen Mulberry Trees produce ?
Mulberry trees are exceptionally effective in producing a good amount of oxygen and purifying the air. According to Science Direct journal a single mature mulberry tree produces approximately 3000 kgsof oxygen per year.Due to their rapid growth and high photosynthetic rate, they act as significant carbon sinks. A matured mulberry tree absorbs over 4000 Kgs of CO2 per year. Had the 62 mulberry trees been cut on Canal Avenue Rawalpora Baghe Mehtab road we can imagine how much environmental / economic loss this would have been ?
Sixty-two trees together produce 1,86,000 kg of oxygen annually. This is enough oxygen for dozens of people to breathe for a full year without any other source. To understand how much this free oxygen is worth, consider the cost of replacing it with medical oxygen cylinders. The 1,86,000 kg equals approximately 4000 plus oxygen cylinders per year of 46.7 kgs weight (Jumbo D type). At the normal refill rate between Rs 10,000 to Rs 16,000 per cylinder, the annual cost comes to Rs 5.20 Crores if the average cost is Rs 13000 per cylinder (Jumbo D type). The readers can imagine how much great loss this would have been ?
I remember during the Covid-19crisis of 2020 and 2021, oxygen cylinders were being sold in the black market for Rs 50,000 each. Families were running from hospital to hospital begging for one cylinder. People died because oxygen was not available. These 62 trees produce that same oxygen every day without any cost, shortage, or crisis. Once these trees are cut, the oxygen they produce is permanently lost until new trees mature, which takes another 15 to 20years.
Air Purification
Canal Avenue or Bund Roadfrom Mochwa Baghe Mehtab to Rawalpora bridge and then to Pir Bagh Airport Road is among the busiest small roads in Srinagar. Thousands of vehicles pass through this area daily, releasing smoke, dust, carbon dioxide, and toxic chemicals into the air. The hundreds of mulberry trees act as natural air purifiers and remove harmful substances from the atmosphere every year. In fact 50 to 60 % mulberry trees have already been cut down by people and Govt agencies in the last 20 years but now we want to axe more and more ? What kind of a sick society do we live in ?
These trees absorb approximatelyfine dust particles including PM2.5 and PM10. Theseparticles are most dangerous to human lungs because they penetrate deep into the respiratory system. They absorb thousands of kgs of carbon dioxide every month which is the primary greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. They also neutralize hazardous gases including sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, and chlorine. Mulberry trees have a particularly high capacity for absorbing these industrial and vehicular pollutants.
Conclusion
The axing of Mulberry trees has been stopped by the Government but by making the area concrete, it will destroy these trees automatically in coming years.I, along with local residents of Rawalpora Canal Avenue, have taken up this issue with the J&K Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC. The Regional Director JKPCC Kashmir on April 17th 2026 sent an official communication to the Executive EngineerR&B division Rajbagh and directed him to take necessary action to cancel the tender.I am sure the Executive Engineer will take necessary steps soon and cancel this work as the same has been taken up in the environmental laws especially J&K Preservation of Specified Trees Act 1969 and J&K Mulberry Protection Act 1949. At a time when Kashmir’s Air Quality Index -AQI has crossed 350 or 400 last autumn, what are we supposed to do? Such acts are simply criminal in nature and the Supreme Court in its recent order said that cutting matured trees is worse than killing human beings. A fine of Rs 1 lakh for each illegally cut tree was imposed on the person namely Shiv Shankar Aggarwal. The Supreme Court bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan made the observation while rejecting the plea of a man who had chopped down 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone which spans around Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras, and Etah in UP and one district in Rajasthan (Bharatpur). “There should be no mercy in the environmental case. Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human,” the bench said.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat and Irshad Mushtaq are members of J&K Climate Action Group
