Pine trees drying up, probe ordered

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, October 13

The forests in Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una districts are facing a serious threat as hundreds of pine trees in the area have dried up.

“It has been observed that only trees that bear fruit (pine cones) have dried up. Seeds are procured from these cones to further expand forests,” said a Hamirpur resident.

The maximum damage has been reported in Chabutra, Sastar, Bijhri, Badsar, Chakmoh in Hamirpur and parts of Swarghat, Namhol and Kotkehloor in Bilaspur.

Forest Conservator Anil Joshi said: “We have observed that pine trees are drying up in Hamirpur and Una. Frequent forest fires are to be blamed for the loss but we cannot rule out other reasons as well. We have requested the state Forest Research Institute to investigate the causes”.

The pine forests in the region support the economy and add revenue to the state exchequer. The revenue is generated in two ways — by selling pinewood and resin extracted from pine trees. It has been estimated that the state government generated over Rs27 crore from the annual produce of 4,164 tonnes of resin extract.

Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts contribute over 40 per cent of the total resin produced in the state. The state forest corporation releases over Rs10 crore every year to private resin producers in the state.

Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation Limited deals in marketing of timber, firewood, pulpwood, bamboo, khair and resin.

People, who depend on pine forests for income, now fear losing income. Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Chabotra village, said: “Earlier, forest fires were the main reason for our losses, but now since trees have dried up, we may face bigger losses”.