Keonjhar: Timber mafia reportedly adopted a new way to kill valuable sal trees in forested pockets under Bansapal area in Keonjhar district even as tree felling continued to make space for roads, human settlements, mining of murram, earth and stone.
Describing the modus operandi of the mafia, local said first they peel off the bark from the trunk of a tree. As a result of this, the tree gets deprived of food and dies in a few days. This helps mafia remaining unnoticed, they opined.
The new way of killing valuable tress has sparked concern among environmentalists. The forest department is doing precious little to check it. The new method will spur mass killing of trees unless the forest department keeps a hawkish eye on the mafia, they added.
Reports said, a road is being laid under PMGSY from Bargoda to Champajhar. To facilitate this, trees are felled to mine murram and stone which are then used for road construction.
It was alleged that the new style of killing trees is being pushed by villagers with tacit support from contractors and unscrupulous forest officials.
Some conscious citizens said it will take a long time to get official approval of the forest department to clear trees for these purposes. The delay in clearance will delay projects. The mafia has found in it the best way to cut a patch round the trunk of a tree to make it dead in a few days.
They have demanded a probe into such killing of trees and action against the guilty. Environmentalists claimed that many villagers know the fact, but due to fear for mafia, they keep silent.
PNN