Kendrapara: Forest department personnel in Odisha’s Kendrapara district Friday seized around 15 quintals of mangrove roots that bore resemblance to sandalwood in Bhitarkanika National Park and arrested nine people, including five women, for trespassing into the protected forest and felling trees, officials said.
Ten quintals of Salacia prinoides roots and stems, locally called ‘Batara’, an important mangrove species, packed in 20 sacks and five quintals of Ceriops decandra roots, locally called ‘Garani’, packed in 10 sacks, were seized from the Kalibhanjadia forest block of the national park. The tools used for cutting down the standing mangrove trees were seized from their possession, they said.
The arrested persons, all from villages within the park area, were later remanded to judicial custody under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, said Assistant Conservator Forest (ACF), Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division, Manas Das.
The roots of mangrove trees, which have medicinal values, are of a yellow colour, and the accused persons used to apply scented artificial colour to give this look of sandalwood. The refurbished roots are later smuggled to various destinations, where the roots bearing resemblance to sandalwood fetch hefty sums for the smugglers, said the official.
Bhitarkanika, which is one of the richest storehouses of mangrove genes, is home to 55 species along the wetland sites of the national park. Researchers have also come across 11 mangrove species, which are at an elevated threat of extinction in the world.
Mangroves are regarded as natural barriers against the tidal surge and cyclones. Because of its rich mangrove cover, cyclonic storms from time to time have failed to make inroads into the wetland sites, officials said.
The coastal state is endowed with a rich reserve of a mangrove forest area of 231 square kilometres, with a major chunk lying in Bhitarkanika. It stands second only to the Sundarbans in West Bengal in terms of density.
Besides Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara, the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur and Puri are also home to mangrove, otherwise known as coastal woodland.
While 82 square km area in Bhitarkanika has dense mangrove cover, a 95 square km area has a moderate mangrove forest. 54 square km patches are sparsely covered under mangrove forest.
