Keonjhar: Cleaning of natural forest and plantation of saplings of non-fruit varieties including teak, eucalyptus and acacia have triggered resentment among locals here.
Environmentalists have expressed displeasure over planting of these trees by the forest department in Kanjipani forest here.
The department should groom trees like mango, jackfruit, guava and medicinal plants like amla, bahada and mahua to provide food to forest dwellers as well as wild animals such as monkey, bear and others and varieties of birds, they argued.
Besides, trees like teak and acacia, which are of no use for the forest inhabitants, also don’t allow other trees near them to grow. On the contrary, the grown up trees would attract timber mafia to the area and the residents would bear the brunt, the nature lovers pointed out.
It may be noted that, many monkeys, in search of food, stray on to NH-49 near Kanjipani ghat and die of accidents. They seek food from the commuters. Oily food given by the travelers badly affects their health, it was learnt. Similarly, wild animals such as elephants and bears entering the villages is a regular affair in this district.
Even as the government pumps in crore of rupees for development of artificial forest, it yields no results, environment lovers said.
It was alleged that most of the trees don’t survive as they are planted inside the natural forest resulting in wastage of government funds worth crores of rupees.
Though several agencies are roped in as part of the afforestation drive, the survival rate of the trees remains something between 15 to 20 per cent, sources said.
However, in the absence of a review of the projects, no one has the exact statistics on the survival of trees, said a local environmentalist.
PNN
