Srinagar: Hundreds of sheep in Srinagar’s Mulnar area are on verge of starvation as forest officials have erected barbed wires and stopped the herders from entering the nearby grazing areas.

The sheep farmers in Mulnar area said the officials of forest department prevented the sheep from grazing in the area, where they have been taken for grazing traditionally.

The negative approach of forest officials towards sheep grazing is a severe hit to the government’s efforts to promote sheep farming on entrepreneurial level.

The farmers complained that the move of the forest officials threatens to starve hundreds of sheep in the area which can choke the local economy.

“The livelihood of so many families is dependent on sheep farming and yet these officials do not take the ground reality into consideration,” a sheep farmer in Mulnar said.

Another farmer said the sheep are the most docile animal and will not harm any afforestation attempt of the forest department.

“If the forest officials continue to prevent our sheep from grazing in Mulnar then they will be responsible for the starvation and deaths of hundreds of sheep,” a sheep farmer said.

An official of the sheep department said that the forest officials are taking undue advantage of Mulnar’s vicinity to Dachigam park.

“The reality is that Dachigam park is properly demarcated and Mulnar is outside it’s boundaries,” the official said. He termed the approach of forest officials as “high handedness”.

Mulnar and it’s nearby areas of New Theed are located on outskirts of Srinagar.