Srinagar , November 15
An Inquiry into the forest scam is learnt to have indicted then forest minister Qazi Muhammad Afzal, and some senior officials of the state Forest Corporation.

The report submitted by then home secretary B.R. Kundal, now elevated chief secretary, has named senior corporation officials, whose names could not be known, for approving work without following proper procedure which caused loss to the exchequer. A senior official confirmed the findings of the report, but declined to divulge details. "The minister did not take any action even after the matter was brought to his notice," he said.

Official circles had begun speculating about the scam when the state Forest Corporation mooted to import timber without making a proper case for such extreme measure, as purchase of timber by the state government from overseas is quite unheard of. The idea was grounded after the Finance Department objected to it, asking for details. Though there has been no official version as to what this "forest scam" was all about, many said government officials and private parties had tried to make money by creating artificial crisis of timber.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had relieved Qazi, a member of his coalition partner , the PDP, of Forest Department, inviting ire of the minister and his party. In protest Qazi resigned from the cabinet, he also held urban development portfolio. Though Azad claimed the removal of Qazi was due to his unhappiness with Forest Department officials, by ordering an inquiry he tacitly admitted to wrongdoings in the ministry. 

Pampore, November 15
Saffron farmers here are worried. Yield of the saffron crop - which has brought glory to this part of the Kashmir valley, has been falling year after year.

About 14 km from Srinagar, Pampore— the heartland of saffron, where a stone memorial greets you with the message "world's best saffron grows here"- is slowly losing its sheen.

"I have personally suffered 50-60 per cent decrease in the yield in 15 years," says Ghulam Nabi, a farmer in Lethpora village near the town.

Nabi, who has sprawling saffron field inherited from his forefathers, says: "Previously, a one-acre would yield around 2 kg of saffron. Now we are getting only 900 gm from it." Farmers and experts believe changing climatic conditions and cement factories around the area are affecting production of the world's costliest spice - the best quality Kashmir saffron, being sold at Rs55,000 to Rs 60,000 per kg.

For commercial purposes, saffron is grown primarily in India, Spain and Iran. Kashmir has the proud privilege of producing the best quality saffron, known for its unique aroma.

The time for its flowers to bloom is autumn. Its orange stigmas are harvested and used as a flavouring and colouring agent in various recipes. Saffron is also added to qahwa -traditional saffron Kashmiri tea.

According to the Agricultural Department, the production per 'kanal' (505 square metres) has fallen from normal 150 gm to as low as 70 gm, hitting the trade , with which nearly 10,000 farmers are directly associated.

Scanty snowfall and rainfall are the major causes of the yield decline, according to experts. The area, as per official records, has been receiving less rain and snow in the past many years than other parts of the valley.

"Pampore gets only one to three inches of snow during winter which is far less than in any other part of the valley," says Henna Qadiri, an agricultural assistant with the department.

‘A rise in average temperature and the early and fast meltdown of glaciers in the Pir Panjal mountain range have affected water availability to a great extent in the last one and a half decades, affecting the crop’.

However, climate is not the only cause, says Qadiri, adding cement factories established in the area are continuously emitting smoke and dust, making saffron cultivation more difficult.

"The dust coming from cement factories causes imbalances in the nutritive contents of the soil due to the high content of mercury present in it which results in the retarded growth of plants," she says.

The government last year promised to introduce post-harvest technologies to save the cash crop. But nothing has been done so far. — IANS