Is it rain disaster or tree felling in HP?

THE recent sight of massive logs swept downstream in flood-ravaged Himachal Pradesh triggered alarm and suspicion. Viral videos showing timber floating in rivers prompted the Supreme Court to flag possible illegal felling. In response, the Himachal government has firmly denied any large-scale illegal logging. It has attributed the phenomenon to this season's unprecedented rainfall, cloudbursts, landslides and glacier movement, which together destabilised hill slopes, uprooting trees. The truth, as often, lies somewhere between extremes. While natural forces undoubtedly play a role in pushing uprooted wood downstream in the Himalayan floods, the frequency and scale of such logs raise legitimate questions. Investigations so far, including by forest-department committees and field inspections, claim to have found no evidence of systematic felling of trees. Yet, it is also true that issues such as weak forest monitoring, lax oversight and occasional collusion, which have been regularly flagged, may obscure the real extent of deforestation and timber trafficking.