Illegal sawmills back in business

Gop: A few illegal sawmills have resumed operations in Gop block taking advantage of the laxity of forest department officials.
The owners of these illegal units had stopped operations and dismantled their equipment a few days ago to avoid any action from the forest department.
Sources claimed that dozens of illegal sawmills have been operating in Gop, Kushupur, Jamara, Madarang, Subarnapur, Ganeshpur, Nuagaon and other areas of the block for years.
The timber mafia used to process smuggled wood in these illegal sawmills. The owners of these illegal units were bribing forest officials to avoid action.
Bowing to public pressure, forest officials had raided a couple of illegal sawmills in the block a few days ago and had seized equipment. Soon, the owners of other sawmills stopped their operations.
However, some illegal units have resumed their operations recently, locals said. “Only frequent raids by the forest department and stringent action will discourage people from setting up illegal sawmills,” said a social activist.
Puri divisional forest officer, Harshabardhan Udgata, said most of the illegal sawmills in the block were closed down after raids. “We will carry out raids again if illegal sawmills have resumed their operations,” he added.