'Drift wood not sawn sleepers': Chamba Forest Dept clarifies on wood floating in Ravi

After a large quantity of wood floating near Chamba town’s Sheetla Bridge during the floods last week sparked speculations of large-scale felling in the district, the Forest Department on Monday clarified that it was drift wood and naturally uprooted trees.

It comes in the backdrop of heavy rainfall and cloudbursts that lashed Chamba between August 23 and 26, triggering flash floods and landslides across the district.

The calamity caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure, with many roads washed away, communication and power lines snapped, and water supply schemes disrupted, leaving local residents cut off for days.

Amid this situation, speculation started making rounds on social media and vernacular press that sleepers were found floating near Sheetla Bridge, which the department termed incorrect and misleading.

Chamba Deputy Conservator of Forests Kritagya Kumar said that during the spell of extreme weather, large quantities of naturally uprooted trees and driftwood were washed into the Ravi river. Field inspections confirmed that the material consisted exclusively of such uprooted trees and no sawn sleepers were found at the site.

“No sawn wood or sleepers was found to have come ashore near Sheetla bridge. What has been seen are uprooted trees and drift wood carried downstream due to cloudbursts and heavy inflows,” he said. Kumar said that this drift originates from multiple sources — trees uprooted on steep slopes due to landslides and slips, as well as large volumes that accumulate year-round in the reservoirs of National Hydropower Corporation’s (NHPC) Chamera-II Dam at Bagga and Chamera-III Dam at Hibra in Bharmour.

“During high inflows, when dam gates are opened, this accumulated material flows downstream, temporarily lodging near the bridge and eventually moving further to the NHPC Chamera-I Dam near Bhalei,” he said.

The DCF said the species identified in the drift include Deodar, Tosh, Kail, Chil, Peak and other broad-leaved trees.

“Prompt measures have been taken to secure government property and that the department is systematically retrieving the drift wood for proper accounting and disposal,” he said.