The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Mafias wreak havoc in forests of Courtallam range

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 23, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Mafias wreak havoc in forests of Courtallam range

P. Sudhakar

Hundreds of trees are cut and timber is smuggled to other parts in State, Kerala

TIRUNELVELI: : Forests in the Courtallam range in the Western Ghats are facing a threat, as timber mafias cut hundreds of trees allegedly with the assistance of lower-level officials of the Forest department.

Timber is smuggled to various parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala. When A.M. Mathew wanted to remove 217 `deadwoods' in his land, a notified area in the Western Ghats at Melur in Shencottai taluk, the committee, headed by the Collector, accorded permission through a May 4 2004 order, with the condition that the owner not harm the trees other than the ones permitted to be removed and that the removal of the permitted timbers be completed within six months.

The committee also informed District Forest Officer H. Venu Prasad asked him to monitor the removal of deadwoods (168.228 cubic metre of timber and 110 tonnes of other woods) from the land with the survey number 1070/7 A-2.

To examine the removal, Mr. Venu Prasad formed an 18-member team, which inspected areas having survey numbers 1070/7 A-2, 1070/7 A-3, 1070/5 and the forests at Milagaraichaanpaarai, Maekkarai and Paimpozhil (known as Panpozhi) on January 20, 2005 and February 4, 2005. He found that the trees were cut down in non-permitted areas.

While permission was accorded to remove puli vaagai, velvaagai and unnu trees on the survey land 1070/7 A-2, 45, teak, marudhu, karumarudhu, vaagai and malai vaembu were also felled. Another 23 trees, including 12 huge teak trees on the survey land 1070/7 A-3, worth several lakhs, were found cut down, according to the inspection team.

Mr. Venu Prasad visited the spot on February 14 and 15 last. In the charge memo 3/2005 issued to Courtallam ranger A. Lakshmanan on February 16 last under Section 17 (A), Mr. Venu Prasad said: "Mr. Lakshmanan has failed to prevent the smuggling of trees from the forest under his control. Moreover, he has caused a heavy loss to the exchequer, as the owner did not pay royalty to the Government, usually paid while the trees in notified areas are cut down."

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests J.C. Kala told The Hindu that he would immediately send a team to the Courtallam range to ascertain the damage.

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