In Himachal Pradesh, the Supreme Court has banned the cutting of apple orchards occupied by forest land. On July 2, the High Court ordered cutting apple plants on thousands of bighas of land. The High Court had also said that the cost of this harvesting should be charged from the owners of the plantation.
The High Court had asked to cut the apple plants and grow the forest back there. For this, trees were to be planted according to local nature. The apple farmers of the state were strongly opposing this step. On this issue, the petition of former Shimla Deputy Mayor Tikendra Singh Panwar was heard in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Argument of the petitioner’s lawyer
The petitioner’s counsel told Chief Justice BR Gavai, Justice of Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria that the High Court has ordered the High Court without considering questions related to the environment. Apple plants are according to the local environment. At this time, there is a risk of landslides in mountainous areas due to monsoon. Apple plants hold the soil.
Heavy economic loss for farmers
During the hearing, it was also argued that at this time apple plants are loaded with fruits. Right now cutting them will be the reason for heavy economic losses for the farmers. Thousands of farmers of Himachal Pradesh depend on apple cultivation. Destroying apple cultivation will cause permanent harm to them. After a while hearing the case, the Supreme Court stayed the order of the High Court. The judges said that the state government should present the apple of these gardens grown on government land. Please tell that the highest number of apples in India are in Jammu and Kashmir. This state is about 76.47% of the total apple production of the country. Apart from this, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are also important apple producing states.
Also read: ‘You will sit there for the next 20 years …’, Amit Shah raging during discussion on Operation Sindoor in Parliament