Crackdown on khair wood mafia in Thural forest in Kangra district
Ravinder Sood
Palampur, February 25
The Forest Department continued crackdown on khair wood mafia active in the forest of Thural of Kangra district. A team headed by Range Officer, Daroh, inspected various spots in the forest on the banks of Neugal river and seized khair wood axed by smugglers. Khair wood was stacked in deep forest by the smugglers to avoid the action by the forest department.
After a secret information, the police raided the local timber depot and seized illegally stored khair wood.
Divisional Forest Officer Palampur Dr Nitin Patil said the Forest Department would continue its campaign and no one would be allowed to cut khair trees illegally in Palampur area. He said efforts were on to identify the smugglers who were responsible for felling of 27 khair trees in Thural forest. Department is also in search of tippers and trucks in which the khair was illegally transported. He said khair stacked had already been seized and cases were being registered against the unknown persons.
Earlier this week, 27 khair trees worth Rs 5 lakh growing on private land at Thural, 35 km from Palampur, were axed illegally. Smugglers reportedly entered the private land at night three days ago and axed the trees with the help of machines and managed to escape. Inquiries revealed that the forest mafia not only felled 27 trees but also uprooted their stumps to destroy evidence of their existence.
Next morning, villagers found the trees missing and reported the matter to local forest officers, who immediately reached there and started investigation. Later, the police recovered khair wood from a local timber depot. The owner of the depot failed to produce any valid documents of the ownership of khair wood stacked in his store. The Forest Department is trying to locate two tippers that the smugglers had used to transport the illegally felled khair wood to nearby areas.
The DFO said an investigation was in progress. He added, “The Forest Department had not marked the axed trees growing on private land. The khair wood in forest or on the private land cannot be axed without prior permission of the Forest Department. It is also mandatory for the private owners of khair trees to seek permission for their marking from the DFO concerned,” he added.
Khair wood smugglers are active in Kangra district. Last week, khair trees were axed in the Rakkar area. The police had arrested one smuggler and booked him under different sections of the IPC and the Forest Act. Illegal khair felling has also been reported from Nurpur. Most of the illegally felled khair wood is transported to ‘katha’manufacturers in Una and Kangra districts.
