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Written by: Bilal Bashir Bhat

Category: ENVIRONMENT

Published: 08 April 2020

Over the years you may have heard from people that Russian poplar tress Locally called Rusi Frass create many health related Problem among people and many times govt. come forward and issue orders for chopooing down all Russian poplar tress and saying the health of the general public is of paramount importance for them. The chopping led to environmentalists calling it a misinformed decision based on wrong perception. Now my Question is that are these trees really responsible for any respiratory allergy? Or it's only just a myth or phobia. I will prove this in my article and trying to aware people that these tress are ecologically and economically More important than by seeing them in negative aspect or blaming them a main culprit.

The Russian poplar tree is a Western American species known as Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) in the US. It was introduced in Kashmir in 1982 under a Word Bank-aided social forestry scheme. People in the Valley have started to prefer the Russian poplar over the native Kashmiri poplar for its quick growth. It takes only 10-15 years to reach full size compared to 30-40 years for the Kashmiri poplar.

 The products from these trees make a significant contribution to our economy. The foligae is used as forage for lIvestock, the branches used as firewood and timber used for construction of houses and are used to make wooden boxes for transportation of apples and other fruits from the Valley, poplar trees are a Rs 600-crore industry. Every year the fruit industry in the Valley needs at least 300 lakh wooden boxes. The wood is also used in veneer and plywood industry.

The trees that had enhanced the beauty of Kashmir for close to 40 years. They may also helping in landscape beauty, given its height, poplars stand distinctly in the landscape of Kashmir and dot most highways, forming a mesmerising canopy and fast becoming a tourist attraction too. You may have seen many movies scenes that were shooting in these highways.

 One most important value of these trees is that, by using alternative source of timer and they have substantially eased out pressure on natural forests and this helping in conservation of forests and protection of wildlife habitats and they may help us in  fighting greenhouse effect and climate change.

Even such a huge economic and environmental importance associated with it, still people blaming that govt. Should come forward and helping them in chopping these trees from Kashmir. In my opinion this is type of phobia among people. From north to south, Russian Poplars were sawed and slaughtered mercilessly on the orders of the government. The trees that had enhanced the beauty of Kashmir for close to 40 years started being felled everywhere.

 According to People, Russian Poplar trees are mainly responsible for many respiratory allergies among masses, the reason for the above statement is that the Russian poplars shed their seeds covered in cotton-like material. The cotton-covered seeds can be seen in the air, on the ground and in water-bodies and everwhere in this season. Around the same time, patients complaining of respiratory diseases swell many times. People have been blaming the seeds for the respiratory diseases. But this has not been scientifically proven that the pollens are the main cause of allergies in this season.

 The size of the Russian poplar trees cotton are big enough to enter human body. There is no connection to prove that the poplar was the main cause of the allergies. According to Dr Masoodi, the pollen of poplar trees is "40 micron" in size which makes it invisible to naked eye. What we see on roads and in air is the seed of the tree and a seed is not an allergen.

Scientists, on the other hand, have concluded that the seeds from these trees do not cause allergy among masses. Health experts stress that the cotton-like material from the poplars is not an allergen. Forest, environment and medical experts in Kashmir have discovered that the much-abused Russian Poplar trees are not responsible for any allergies as per medical research.

A 2017 study by the Government Medical College, Srinagar, reached on this conclusion that the pollen of Russian poplars can cause allergic reactions in less than 20% of the population. Compared to this, pollen from common grass is likely to cause allergic reactions in 73.5%, pollen from pine in 62.7% of the population, and pollen from chinar trees in 60% of the population. The study found that the biggest causative agent for respiratory diseases, in fact, is dust that can affect 92.7% of the population.

 According to Dr. Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah, Consultant and Assistant Professor at the Department of Chest Medicine of the Government Medical College, Srinagar, said that the Poplar-induced allergy stands at number six as a cause of allergy. While dust remains the main cause, it is followed by lawn grass, deodar, kikaar and chinar pollen.

So here it was proven by medical research that The much abused Russian poplar tress are not responsible for respiratory allergies in Kashmir, but other varieties of pollens are main cause of respiratory disease and allergies in Kashmir.  If there are any chances of allergies by Russian poplar tree seeds after scientific research, then there may be other options like pruning of poplar trees which may not only reduced the annoying cotton fluff produced by the tree, but also increased its productivity in terms of tree girth and height and also protects the environment.  Scientists from diverse fields are alarmed by the indiscriminate, unjustified felling of the Russian Poplars. The civil society has vowed to protect 15.22 million Russian Poplar trees in Kashmir.

So Mercilessly chopping them may not be a right decision as it may reduce the green cover and which has also many  ecological and economical values associated with it and it would be a good idea if the policy makers could put some mechanisms in place that would ensure dust free roads from Kashmir that are main cause of allergies (92.7%) among masses in Jammu and Kashmir.

People of Jammu and Kashmir has come out from this "Russian tree allergy phobia" and fight against this erroneous decision where lakhs of Russian Poplars have been sawed mercilessly. Media role is also important to create awareness among masses regarding importance of trees, especially the Russian poplar trees in the right direction. There is a severe need to dispel the myths that have led to the systematic felling of the Russian Poplars.