Srinagar, Aug. 28 -- The Tribunal's Principal Bench in New Delhi, led by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, asked the Chief Secretary to submit an affidavit fixing responsibility on officers who permitted the violations and to disclose whether similar irregularities have occurred in other projects across the Union Territory.

The Rajwar forests, a stretch of thick green cover in north Kashmir, were opened to the Public Works Department in 2019 for Phase I of the Handwara-Bangus road. The sanction covered 14 hectares and allowed the felling of 447 mature trees, 340 poles, and 236 saplings - largely deodar, kail, and fir. In return, the government was meant to pay Rs 3.81 crore for compensatory afforestation, roadside plantations, and the Net Pre...