Handwara, Apr 13: A young from Badrekali village of Rajwar, Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district has distributed over twenty thousand saplings free of cost after establishing a nursery in the year 2018.

Division Forest Officer (DFO) Social Forestry Kupwara, Dr Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, has disributed more than 20,000 different saplings which include mulberry, walnut, Fig, Pear, Quence, Ulmus, Cypress, Deodar and willow.

Speaking to Rising Kashmir, he said the initiative was taken in 2018 and   so far they have distributed more than twenty-thousand plants free of cost to people and these  plants were also used in the school premises, roadside and Eidgahs.

Fayaz said the nursery has saved around 10 lakh rupees as employees of the department have contributed for this nursery on their own.

A resident said the department was defunct earlier and since then the new officer took charge the department had done various works in the area and have planted thousands of trees in Forest land.

Another senior official of the department told, if these plants were made by the contractor it's cost will be more than 10 lakhs.