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Villagers out to expose timber mafia

Staff Reporter

Keep a close watch on felled trees inside Anantpur Reserve Forest

GREEN WARRIORS: Villagers gather near felled trees in Anantapur Reserve Forest in Dhenkanal division.

BHUBANESWAR: Residents of Khajurinali and Chawalijharan in Orissa's Dhenkanal district are on a mission now.

For the last two months, the villagers of the two hamlets have been keeping a close watch on the 700 felled trees inside the Anantpur Reserve Forest under Dhenkanal division with an apparent objective to "expose unholy nexus between the timber mafia and officials."

Memo to Naveen

The villagers have submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to institute an inquiry into the "illegal green felling" inside the reserve forest.

"The Forest Department has shown disrespect to our faith and gods by felling trees in the forests that we have created by confronting with timber smugglers during the last 30 years. On one side the government asks us to protect forests and on the other side it destroys the same," Ramachandra Murmu of Chawalijharan village said.

Against norms

Villagers alleged that the State Forest Department and the Orissa Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) had cut down some 700 healthy and immature trees in the reserve forest in the name of executing working plans of the forest division. They now cut off two approach roads that could have made possible transport of logs from the forest.

The trees were reportedly marked as diseased trees and felled as part of working plans on Scientific Management of Forest, an official source said.

"In Compartment 21, 22 and 23 of Coup II and III under Anantpur Reserve Forest, the Forest Department, along with the OFDC, started felling good and healthy trees from October to December 2006, which is totally against guidelines prescribed in the existing working plan in the Dhenkanal Forest division," Akshaya Pani, convenor of Adivasi Kranti Sanghatan, said.

He said: "Most of the trees which were felled by the Forest Department are below the Exploitable Girth Size. The existing working plan says that minimum exploitable girth size for Sal and Asan is 120 cm or above. However, more then 95 per cent of the felled tree found lying there in the forest are below exploitable girth size," Mr. Pani alleged.

Villagers suspect hand of the timber mafia in the felling and urged the Chief Minister to verify if all guidelines were adhered to in this case.

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