The practice of collecting and burning leaves falling from trees in the valley, common these days is a very sad healthwise hazardous and environmentally damaging practice.

The practice of collecting and burning leaves falling from trees in the valley, common these days is a very sad healthwise hazardous and environmentally damaging practice. It causes a lot of smoke and releases a whole lot of pollutants in the air, causing cough, chest pain wheezing etc esp among children and the elderly. The practice, very common in large parts of the valley also causes heating of the air cover and leads to melting of glacier ice caps. We make a desparate appeal to the people to avoid the practice of leaf burning and look for alternative and environment friendly sources of heat for kangries etc. We also appeal to the government . to make proper and sufficient provision of free coal for the poor,  well beforw the advance of winters so that these people dont have to depend on leaves as a source of charcoal for kangries for winters,

Mushtaq Pahalgami
Himalayan Welfare Organization-HWO