Rourkela: The alertness of the Forest department has prevented major fires in jungles and ‘poaching’ of trees this summer, officials informed here Friday. They said there is a new trend to set forests on fire and then cut down the half-burnt trees to sell those as timber outside the state. Hence, officials of various Forest divisions are keeping a close watch on all the ranges, especially those in the Bonai division. “Earlier there used to be illegal poaching of wild animals.
Now miscreants are targeting the trees, as plenty of costly teak is easily available. We have to be on our toes always to prevent it,” said an official. “We are determined to stop the smuggling of teak and other forest produce,” he added. A Forest Department official working in the Sole and Jarda ranges informed that miscreants are responsible for more than half of the reported cases of forest fires. “The modus operandi is quite simple. Set a part of the forest on fire and then cut the half-burnt trees and smuggle them out. Hence we have to continuously monitor all the ranges,” he stated.
An official informed that they received inputs from sources that 22 people including women were clearing a patch of the forest in Bonai range Tuesday on the pretext of creating agricultural land. “It was just an alibi,” said range officer Kailash Kissan. “We rushed to the spot and found that valuable trees were being felled. Among them were mango, sal, jamun and arjuna trees. All the 22 were arrested and we seized sophisticated cutting equipment from them,” informed Kissan. In another incident, Forest department officials apprehended habitual offender Satyanarayan Yadav, a truck driver by profession. He was nabbed while setting a dense forest area on fire in Barsuan range. “As we managed to reach the spot quickly we doused the flames easily,” said an official. Forest officials however lauded the locals for their cooperation. They said the locals keep a constant watch on the forest ranges and immediately pass on information if they find anything amiss or suspicious. “This has gone a long way to prevent major forest fires this season,” said an official.
