Srinagar, June 10 : The fluffy cotton shed by the ‘notorious’ Russian female poplar trees continue to trouble the residents of Bulbul Bagh Anantnag who have demanded district administration to implement the high court directions without fail.
“The pollens from these Russian poplar trees gets into eyes, nose, into the mouth and cause allergies, and what not,” said residents of Bulbul Bagh Nowgam, Anantnag.
“Our glazed mesh windows are opaque due to fluffy cotton by these poplars and we cannot even as move out. The fluffy cotton shed by these poplar trees is such that as if there is snowfall. The pollens are everywhere,” they said, adding, “There is a sudden spike in illness such as cold, cough and fever.”
They requested the authorities to act fast and take strict measures against those people who have hitherto failed to act on their own to axe these trees. “There are some people who have grown these trees on large chunk of land and we request the authorities to take stern action against them so that these trees are cut as per the directions by the high court.”
It has been around five years since J&K High Court order axing these trees as well as banned the cultivation of these poplars. “It is common knowledge that pollen seeds of this poplar species adversely affect health of the general public, mostly of elderly people and children,” the high court said in an order in June 2015. The state’s top court also observed the pollen seeds of these trees had given rise to chest diseases in the Kashmir valley and had ordered the non-native poplar’s eradication from Kashmir. (GNS)
