Dhemaji: The alarming rise in felling of trees by timber mafia equipped with modern tools and machinery in Arunachal Pradesh's reserve forests has become a major challenge for the state forest department.

Forest officials said easy availability of battery-operated chainsaws in the market needs to be regulated by the state government as these are used by the mafia causing largescale deforestation.

Massive tree cutting and timber smuggling went unnoticed by the forest officials earlier as a result of which hundreds of high-demand hollock ( Terminalia myriocarpa) trees were felled in the Loki area under Pasighat, the headquarters of East Siang district.

The range officer, Pasighat, Jumgo Geyi, said several electric chainsaws have been seized in the past from different parts of the reserve forest.

Geyi added that he has engaged a local youth and has been paying him Rs 3,000 a month for the past year from his own pocket to keep vigil.

Asked for possible means to tackle tree felling, he said 90 per cent staff under Pasighat forest division are women who are posted at the forest checkgates, nurseries and in forest division offices, leaving only a few to tackle the menace.

The additional conservator of forest in-charge of Pasighat, Tasang Taga, said a central mobile squad has been set up under the chief conservator of forest in the Central Arunachal circle. Hundreds of stumps were seized from Loki recently. "The trees were cut by the mafia during monsoon taking advantage of floods. We saw 100 stumps in the reserve forest," Taga said.

He was accompanied by range officer Ojing Jamoh and beat officer of the Moralali area, T. Mize.

Another officer, Obang Tayeng, rued that there are many hurdles in tackling timber smuggling.