Hundreds of sheep in Srinagar’s Mulnar area are on verge of starvation as forest officials have erected barbed wires and stopped the herders from entering the nearby grazing areas.
The sheep farmers in Mulnar area told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the officials of the forest department prevented the sheep from grazing in the area, where they have been taken for grazing traditionally.
The negative approach of forest officials towards sheep grazing is a severe hit to the government’s efforts to promote sheep farming on an entrepreneurial level. The farmers complained that the move of the forest officials threatens to starve hundreds of sheep in the area which can choke the local economy.
“The livelihood of so many families is dependent on sheep farming and yet these officials do not take the ground reality into consideration,” a sheep farmer in Mulnar said. Another farmer said the sheep are the most docile animal and will not harm any afforestation attempt of the forest department.
“If the forest officials continue to prevent our sheep from grazing in Mulnar then they will be responsible for the starvation and deaths of hundreds of sheep,” a sheep farmer said. Mulnar and its nearby areas of New Theed are located on outskirts of Srinagar—(KNO)
