The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Forest officials moot felling of teak trees

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Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Forest officials moot felling of teak trees

S. Harpal Singh

Rampant smuggling sets them thinking

Forest cover of district is 7.15 lakh hectares
Mature teak trees in large pockets a smugglers’ delight

ADILABAD: The amount of problems posed by timber smugglers in Adilabad can be gauged from a line of thinking being developed by forest officials here. Felling of matured teak trees should be done by the department itself in order to pre-empt any illegal felling, is the new suggestion.

In the month of March alone, forest officials of Adilabad division have seized 10 lorries of timber worth Rs. 25 lakh and 16 bullock carts. “Our information network is stronger today and hence we seize the logs either while on transit or while being actually smuggled out in lorries or when it is stacked up for loading in lorries. But, we are unable to prevent felling as such,” pointed out another official.

New theory

Under such circumstances, a new theory that sounds rather impertinent came into being. The protagonists of this theory however, provide a rationale. “While we are able to prevent teak from being smuggled out, prevention of illegal felling continues unchecked.

It will look much better if we legally cut the mature trees and sell it through our depots instead of trying to dispose of seized smuggled goods.

By doing so, we not only stall the chances of smugglers felling mature trees but raise money through sales,” said a forest official on conditions of anonymity.

The district has a forest cover of about 7.15 lakh hectares of which an estimated 60 to 70 per cent is teak. About 3.4 lakh hectares of the forest is being looked after by nearly 1,100 vana sanrakshana samithis (VSS) that have so far failed in checking illegal felling.

Price range

No regular survey for the number of mature teak trees in the forests of Adilabad has been done.

Those that are above the 60 years are present in large pockets in all the five forest divisions in Adilabad circle. It is these pockets that are found to be lucrative by smugglers. Because immature teak has no market, it is generally ignored by smugglers.

At the Government timber depots at present, one cubic metre of mature teak sells for a price ranging between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 40,000 depending on the girth of the log.

At this rate, mature teak in the district can yield an income anywhere between Rs. 400 and Rs. 500 crore, according to crude estimates.

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