Proper afforestation plan needed

The Kashmir valley is presently witnessing a prolonged dry spell from the past nearly two months while as far as the forecast is concerned the weatherman has mentioned that there is no significant weather activity in sight and the weather conditions are expected to remain dry till January 23. Although such a dry spell is nothing new as far as the previous records are concerned. The Valley has witnessed dry winter months in 2018 as well. But, what needs to be deliberated is the deforestation that has been going on since long and unfortunately no concrete step is being taken to prevent such activities across Jammu & Kashmir. As per the reports, from 2001 to 2022, Jammu and Kashmir has lost 4.09 kha of tree cover, equivalent to a 0.38% decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 1.91 Mt of CO₂e emissions. Such a huge change itself depicts how the people have fiddled with nature over the years, which simultaneously has brought a visible change in the weather conditions as well and thus resulted in the health conditions also. The experts believe that afforestation is the only way out to tackle the repellent situation. Until and unless there is a proper afforestation plan in place as a priority for next one decade at least, then only the things can be reversed and the situation of possible catastrophe can be prevented. Therefore, both the people as well as the administration have the responsibility to share their bit and start a process with regard to the afforestation so that the things can be reversed.