By Dr. Ashraf Zainabi

Every spring, Kashmir enters the same cycle. Streets fill with drifting fress-famb from female Russian poplars, hospitals see rising cases of allergies and breathing distress, and families struggle through weeks of coughing, irritation, and asthma flare-ups. Public debate then swings between emotional calls for mass cutting and endless bureaucratic hesitation. Neither path solves the problem.

Kashmir already has the tools to fix this crisis. What it lacks is a clear village-level plan with timelines, accountability, and public participation.

Suppose a revenue village contains nearly 3,000 poplar trees. Around 1,000 among them may consist of female Russian poplars that release the cotton-like fress-famb during spring. Managing those trees does not require a giant administrative machine or expensive outside intervention. A local panchayat can handle the task through a phased and disciplined approach.

A five-year roadmap can gradually remove the problem while protecting Kashmir’s green cover. The first two years should focus on aggressive pruning during March and April. Each village can organize a week-long pruning mela before the pollen season peaks. Cutting the branches before seed dispersal would sharply reduce the amount of fress-famb floating through the air.

Pruning alone, however, cannot serve as the final answer. A parallel replacement plan must begin immediately. Around 200 female poplars each year should give way to safer alternatives such as male poplars, bot-te-fress, willow trees, and........

© Kashmir Observer