In safe hands

Nov. 22: Encouraged by a haul of timber worth nearly Rs 6 lakh on Tuesday, the Dibrugarh forest division (territorial) has decided to continue with more intensity its crackdown on the illegal timber trade that has been flourishing in the district for several years.

A series of reports in the media, including The Telegraph, forced the forest department to take steps to rein in the timber mafia.

It was alleged that senior officials of the Dibrugarh forest division were hand-in-glove with the timber mafia, because of which they turned a blind eye to the illegal trade.

The forest division has, of course, consistently refuted allegations of corruption against its staff.

“Timber smugglers are active in this forest division and we have long been aware of it. We made several attempts to stop the illegal trade in timber in the past, but could not achieve total success because of several reasons, including shortage of manpower, inadequate infrastructure and, most importantly, lack of support from people living nearby,” a senior official of the division said.

The forest department conducted the raid on timber dens in with the district administration’s assistance. A magistrate was deputed for the raid along with police and CRPF contingents.

Around 50 illegal small timber mills which are commonly referred to as bench saw mills, operate in Rohmoria because of the area’s strategic location. The timber mafia ferries logs through the Brahmaputra. Smugglers have also been using Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as a corridor to Arunachal Pradesh. The national park is under the jurisdiction of the Tinsukia wildlife division.

The raid party, led by ranger Kushal Deka and magistrate Partha Pratim Boiragi, shut down four illegal saw mills in the area.

“Raids will continue. We are determined to wipe out the illegal trade in timber from our division. However, we require assistance from the administration, security forces and the public for the crackdown to be successful,” the official said.

Conservation groups said the Dibrugarh forest division must produce better results for people to believe it is serious about wiping out the illegal timber trade.

“It will be a revolutionary step if the Dibrugarh territorial division manages to evict timber smugglers for good. We will support them in every way we can,” the director of Nature’s Beckon, Soumyadeep Datta, said.