AP PHOTOS: Fewer willows worry Kashmir’s cricket bat makers


              Kashmiri shepherd walks with his cattle through a field where willow trees were chopped down over a government wetland at Haretaar north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Kashmiri men play cricket on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 24, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Azhar Bhat, a Kashmir man tosses a ball with a bat to demonstrate its quality to a customer inside his showroom in Sangam, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Javid Ahmed, owner of a cricket bat factory displays his finished bats in Awantipora, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Farooq Ahmed Khan, a Kashmiri worker prepares a cricket bat at a factory in Sangam, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Manzoor Ahmed Wani, a Kashmiri worker prepares a cricket bat at a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Unfinished cricket bats are covered in sawdust at a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Kashmiri workers prepare cricket bats inside a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Mudasir Ahmed, a Kashmiri worker carries willow clefts used to make cricket bats as he walks past pile clefts stacked up for seasoning at a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Kashmiri men prepare to chop down a willow tree over a government wetland at Haretaar north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              A Kashmiri man measures log kept aside for making cricket bats after cutting down willow trees  over a government wetland at Haretaar north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              A Kashmiri man carries a willow log after cutting down willow trees over a government wetland at Haretaar north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Willow trees are seen over a government wetland at Haretaar north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Willow cleft used to make cricket bats are stacked up for seasoning at a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Ali Raza, a worker from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh levels the surface of a cricket bat at a factory in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Imran Malik, a Kashmiri worker carries unfinished cricket bats made out of willow at a factory in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              A field full of felled willow trees is seen over a government wetland at Haretaar, north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
            
              Finished cricket bats are seen inside a factory in Sangam, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 22, 2022. Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly a million bats a year. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
AP PHOTOS: Fewer willows worry Kashmir’s cricket bat makers