Mafia axes trees in Kotkhai as forest officials caught napping
Forest mafia active in Kotkhai are illegally felling deodar trees and then setting the forests on fire.
Nearly two dozen trees were illegally felled in Reoghati, at Sararu Pass near Chaal Temple, alongside piles of freshly cut timber. Interestingly, this is happening right under the nose of the forest guards.
A group of trekkers recently came across an area of approximately five hectares where forests are apparently being systematically destroyed and encroached by a combination of fire and tree felling.
Michael Lidgley, owner Himalayan orchard, village Rukhla in Kotkhai tehsil. said, “We often trek through the surrounding government-protected forest areas. Frequently one finds trees felled, fires started deliberately, and little or nothing is done to prevent it,” said .
“On March 20, during one of our treks, we noticed logs and timber lying in the forest area. We also saw six men walking towards the area with ropes, at 4 pm. The men seemed concerned by our presence,” said Lidgley.
“When we returned on March 22 , the timber had been clandestinely removed from the place,” gone,” said Lidley who also clicked the pictures of tree smuggling.
Lidgley along with his friends also visited area near Kufferbag, where five hectares of mature forest showed all the signs of being systematically destroyed.
“The number of affected trees runs into the hundreds. Nearby orchardists are fencing off parts of the burnt forest and planting apple saplings among the scorched deodar,” she said. But to the dismay of the villagers, there was no response from the forest officials.
“We approached the forest division block officer at Kotkhai. He was not aware of the tree felling at Sararu Pass, but immediately blamed ‘Kashmiris’, who seem to be well-known. He was aware of the ‘forest fire’ at Kufferbag,” he said, adding that staff crunch was adding to the woes of forest department.
The block officer of the forest department pointed out that with insufficient numbers of trained guards and rangers and general underfunding, there was little that he could do.
Mark Shrosbree, a British professor, who is in India to help organise an international trailrunning event for 2018 said, “The trails in this area are perfect for trail-running but then we came across this scene of utter devastation. It’s like a battlefield from the First World War,” he said.
Mark pointed to clear photographic evidence of fires being lit at the base of trees.