Kashmiris Risk Their Lives To Pluck Walnuts As They Don't Have Any Safety Gear

On October 16, 2019, Parvaiz Ahmad Dedar, a resident of Garkote village of Uri in north Kashmir¡¯s Baramulla district was plucking walnuts from a tree in Nilsar area of Tangmarg when he fell from a tree and his left leg suffered a major injury.

¡°I was immediately shifted to a local hospital in Tangmarg and from there I was referred to JVC hospital Srinagar,¡± Parvaiz told Indiatimes.

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Parvaiz calls plucking of walnuts his bad luck now. ¡°I don¡¯t have any other source of work. I earn my bread and butter through plucking walnuts and then selling them to the traders,¡± he said adding unfortunately no one taught us about the precautions that need to be taken to pluck the walnuts.

¡°Though our horticulture department keeps always making big claims of doing a lot for the farmers and labourers but whose responsibility is of these walnut labourers,¡± said Imtiyaz Ahmad Dedar, Parvaiz¡¯s brother who works as bus conductor.

Suffering on daily basis

Parvaiz¡¯s injured leg has not recovered despite the passing of almost three years and has to visit the doctor in Srinagar frequently.

¡°He visits at least twice in a week to Srinagar to meet the doctor. His leg has internally broken and doctors have made every effort to fix it back,¡± Imtiyaz said.

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He further said that they were suffering on a daily basis now and no one was coming forward to help them.

¡°I earn Rs 3,000 per month and that goes for my rented room in Srinagar as travelling to and fro Uri is not possible on a daily basis as cab charges are huge,¡± he said.

¡®No one helped us¡¯

Narrating his woes further, Imtiyaz said that he met Block Development Council (BDC) Chairman Uri who assured them to help financially. ¡°But later he said that nothing can¡¯t be done. They only come when they need votes during an election,¡± he said.

¡°I took a loan of Rs two lakh from a local walnut trader here for the marriage ceremony of my brother and now I am giving him walnuts to pay off the debt,¡± he said.

When asked what they expect from the government, he said, ¡°Government should create awareness about the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit which includes helmets, ropes, non-slippery boots and more importantly belts.¡±

¡°They should make it available on the subsidised rates to the labourers in the market so that no one is injured and lose their lives,¡± he added.

No compensation given

Habibullah Ganie, 55, a resident of the same village was plucking walnuts from a nearby tree in 2013 when he fell down. He was taken to the local sub-district hospital but he died on the way.

¡°No one from the government officials visited us till date and no compensation has been provided yet,¡± said Habibullah¡¯s son Bashir Ahmad Ganie, 45.

The past memories of 56-year-old Hakim Din, a resident of Uri still haunts him.

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¡°In 2009, I fell down from 85 feet from a walnut tree while plucking. I got thirty-one fractures in my back and I was unable to move and was under complete bed rest for almost one year. The situation was so bad for me that I was not sure that I would again stand up on my legs,¡± he said.

Din has now opened at a timbre shop in the main market Uri. ¡°I am happy in this business and want to live a normal life without any further falls from the tree as there is no value in your life.¡±

He appealed to the authorities to make the safety gear available for the labourers involved in plucking of walnuts so that no more life is lost.

¡°Belt is a must and it is the life line of the labourers who climb trees and risk their lives,¡± said Shafqat Ahmad Naik, 22, a local of Garkote, Uri.

Mohd Ashraf, a villager from south Kashmir¡¯s Shopian town said, ¡°Every year you will witness people falling from trees in this sector of Kashmir and getting killed. In the last three years, more than 20 people have been killed,¡± he said.

Advisory issued

In September last year, the government came up with an advisory after the rise in accidental deaths of the people due to fall from walnut trees.

The harvesting season of walnut, a major horticulture produce of Kashmir, commences in late August and continues through the month of September till ending November.

Amid the rising number of accidental deaths due to fall from walnut trees, Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management department issued fresh dos and don¡¯ts to avoid casualties during the ongoing walnut harvest season.

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The advisory mostly calls for safety measures to avoid any such tragic incidents in the future.

Last year, the local daily Greater Kashmir reported that within the ten days of beginning of the walnut season at least six persons lost their lives while many were injured due to fall from walnut trees in different areas of Kashmir.

After counting the various figures, it came to fore that over 40 people have been killed after falling from walnut trees in the last five years.

Official Say

Ghulam Rasool Mir, Director Horticulture Kashmir told Indiatimes that there is no scheme as of now so that safety gear could be sold on a subsidised rate.

¡°Currently we are promoting the high-density plantation of walnuts,¡± he said adding, ¡°This type of plantation doesn¡¯t make a tree that large which will later create problems in plucking the walnuts. People should follow it as this is a game changer.¡±

However, Mir requested those who pluck walnuts to take precautions.

¡°Don¡¯t climb the tree when it has rained as it will lead to slip, tie rope while plucking the walnuts and don¡¯t sit on a branch which can¡¯t bear your weight,¡± he added.

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