Khurda/Ranpur: Smuggling of timber from several reserve and village forests under Ranpur range here has become a cause for concern.
The Forest department has failed to check the rampant timber smuggling from the reserve and village forests despite setting up several beat houses in Ranpur range.
As per government data, seven reserve forests spread over 15667.8 hectares come under Ranpur range. Besides, the range has 74.672 hectares of village forests.
The reserve and village forests under Ranpur range are well-known for their sal and teak trees.
The Forest department has set up as many as 23 beat houses under Ranpur range to preserve the reserve and village forests. However, most of the beat houses have asbestos roofs.
According to locals, most of the beat houses under Ranpur range are in a state of dilapidation. The department is yet to take any step to repair the dilapidated structures, they added.
“The asbestos roofs of several beat houses have been damaged completely. Forest guards are reluctant to stay in the dilapidated beat houses. Taking advantage of the prevailing situation, some mafia has been smuggling huge amount of sal and teak woods from the forests,” said a local.
As per the guidelines, the Forest department has to deploy a forester and two forest guards at each beat house. However, the department is yet to fill the vacant posts at beat houses under Ranpur range, sources said.
“Most of the guns allotted to the beat house staff are not working properly. The foresters and guards are ill-equipped to take action against the timber mafia,” said a source.
When contacted, Ranpur ranger Sarat Satpathy admitted that most of the beat houses under his jurisdiction are lying abandoned. “We will repair the beat houses. Steps are being taken to carry out frequent raids to check timber smuggling,” he added.
