The Apple Farmers' Federation of India (AFFI) has expressed shock over the cutting of thousands of trees by the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department. This action follows a High Court order issued on July 17.
According to a statement, the state committee of AFFI and the Himachal Seb Utpadak Sangh will bring together all affected apple growers for a big rally to the Shimla Secretariat on July 29. They’re protesting against what they call forceful evictions and the cutting down of decades-old apple trees.
According to AFFI, over 4,000 apple trees on 60 acres of allegedly encroached land in the Shimla-Rohru apple belt will be cut down just two months before harvest season in September. Many of these trees are over 50 years old. In villages like Chaithla and Sarahan, trees have already been felled, and even some homes have been sealed. Several affected growers are from below poverty line (BPL) families.
"AFFI condemns this inhumane action on apple growers which is a direct hit on their livelihood and contravenes the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to a dignified livelihood. This action also negates the Forest Rights Act [FRA] (2006), which allows forest dwellers to hold and use the land for habitation and cultivation," the release said.
Calling the move inhumane and a direct attack on farmers' livelihoods, AFFI said the action violates Article 21 of the Constitution, which ensures the right to a dignified life, and also goes against the Forest Rights Act, which protects forest dwellers' right to use the land.
The AFFI urged the Justices BS Negi and Vivek Thakur to reconsider their verdict, considering the fact that apple orchards play a vital ecological role by absorbing carbon and preventing soil erosion
"The root of the problem lies in the wholesale application of the Forest Conservation Act [FCA] (1980) in HP which has just 12.7 per cent of its land available for agricultural purposes, even though more than two-thirds of the state population is dependent on agricultural and allied activities for its survival," the release stated.
The AFFI further stated that in such a scenario where both the challenge to the amended revenue act and the issue of evictions at large are stuck in both the High Court and the Supreme Court, the latest order is bad in law for instructing the forceful felling of apple trees and sealing of houses of apple growers.
They strongly objected to apple trees being labelled as non-forest species, pointing out that native wild apple varieties are native to Himachal's mid-hills and not invasive.
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