Post News Network
Bantala, Feb 3: To establish a proposed mega nursery, forest officials have chopped down over 10,000 medicinal and
timber trees on the premises of Central nursery and adjoining jungle at Kulasinga under Purunagad forest range in Angul division.
Such mindless felling of trees has taken place in the past 10-days with earthmovers. They have also started clearing tress in the adjoining jungle to make land available for the project which will come up on five hectares of land. Shocked residents objected to such move following which forest officials tried to destroy evidence by uprooting the left over trunk and setting them on fire. Villagers have alleged that the chopped trees are being smuggled outside for a premium and demanded a high-level inquiry into the
incident.
This has only resulted in loss of green cover and destruction of medicinal plants like Harida, Bahada and Amla and timber trees like sal, teak, asana,
gambhari, neem, piasal, bheru, tentala and bamboo. Forest officials are planning to prove that trees which were destroyed earlier have only been removed from the nursery premises. This has only pooh-poohed the tall claims of the forest officials of working for forestation.
Sources said the Central nursery was established over four hectares of land in 1995 with funds provided by district rural development department.
The various timber and medicinal trees were on two hectares of land. In the nursery, saplings of various plants were raised and sold to residents, plant lovers, organisations and forest protection committees for plantation.
The nursery had 20,000 varieties of valuable plants which were of 6 inch in width and 10ft in height.
However, after the plan for a mega nursery was floated, forest officials decided to clear the area for the project. The mega nursery to be built with over `6 crore government funds will have quarters for forest officials as well as plants and trees of different varieties.
Assistant Conservator of
forest (ACF) JP Singh tried to play down the incident and said only oversized trees were cut down from the nursery.
Regional chief conservator of forests (RCCF) Anup Kumar Nayak of Angul division termed the move illegal and assured that a probe would be ordered in this regard.
