Illegal Ads on Chinars Put Srinagar Authorities on the Spot

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By Syed Sammar Mehdi

Srinagar- Commercial establishments in Srinagar are using Kashmir’s protected Chinar trees as advertising boards, fastening signboards, banners and plastic flexes directly to their trunks, prompting an environmental lawyer to demand immediate removal and legal action against violators.

Nadeem Qadri, an environmental lawyer at the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, has called on the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to identify and remove all unauthorised advertisements attached to Chinars within the city’s municipal limits.

“The practice threatens trees that have defined Kashmir’s cultural, historical and ecological landscape for generations,” Qadri said. 

Known locally as Boun, the Chinar, or Platanus orientalis, enjoys statutory protection under laws governing specified trees. Attaching advertising materials to the trees can damage them, compromise their long-term health and undermine the legal safeguards intended to conserve them, Qadri said in an appeal.

He has called on the authorities to ensure that commercial establishments cannot use these heritage trees as advertising structures. Businesses and individuals who repeat such violations should face legal proceedings under the Specified Trees Act and other applicable laws, wherever relevant.

Qadri has called for enforcement that is consistent, impartial and strong enough to deter further violations. Removing the existing advertisements, he said, must go hand in hand with measures to prevent businesses from attaching new materials to the trees.

The recently constituted Tree Authority, chaired by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation commissioner, provides an institutional mechanism to strengthen tree protection within the city. 

Qadri has urged the authority to treat the issue as a priority, conduct regular inspections, ensure prompt removal of illegal advertisements and establish accountability for violations.

The appeal puts the focus on the enforcement of existing protections and the responsibility of civic authorities to preserve Srinagar’s natural heritage. 

The Chinar is both a defining feature of Kashmir’s landscape and a living link to its history. Its conservation involves protecting the health of the tree as well as the cultural and ecological value it holds for future generations.

Qadri has called for immediate intervention by the government and the municipal corporation, stressing that the law must protect these trees from commercial misuse.

“Chinar trees are our living heritage, not advertising structures,” he said, urging authorities to act without delay.

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