No authority to protect Reserve Forest in state
Source: Hueiyen News Service / RC Mangangcha

Imphal, April 25 2012: Even as state administration strictly prohibits trespassing inside reserve forest area as a means to protect forest and wild life, indiscriminate felling down of trees in reserve forest areas by intruders still a harsh reality in different parts of Manipur.

The Nongmaijing Reserve Forest Area in Imphal East district which covers an area of 67 square kilometers has become a haven for illegal intruders who cut down trees and making huge profit from illegal lumbering activities, right under the nose of officials of Irilbung Forest Beat.

Intruders have been cutting down trees, which are around 20 years or above old and transporting them in truck loads, as if there is no authority to check rampant destruction of Nongmaijing Reserve Forest.

A man taking out a log of wood from the reserve forest

The officials, who are deployed on duty to protect the reserve forest, have not been able to catch any persons involved in illegal lumbering activities not to speak of taking any action under Manipur Forest Rules.

They are seen more busier and interested in collecting quarry tax and royalty tax from trucks transporting shingles.

This issue of illegal lumbering activities had already been highlighted by Hueiyen Lanpao earlier.

However, as the authority concerned has not come up with any positive measures in the regard, this paper has deemed it worthwhile to take up the issue once more for the knowledge of the people in general and the authority concerned in particular.

When Hueiyen Lanpao conducted a spot inspection of the areas affected by recent thunderstorm in some villages of Imphal East district, namely Angourok, Sagolock, Awangching and Kangamthabi, it came to light that numerous trees which are around 20 years old were found to have been cut down in the reserve forest area.

Though some of the trees have been uprooted in the thunderstorm which hit the entire state a few weeks earlier, majority of the trees have been intentionally cut down by self centered individuals who are driven by profit motive.

The entire hill range, though a reserve forest area, does not seem to be one, considering the number of trees cut down on such a large scale.

Speaking to this reporter, some of the nearby villagers of the reserve forest said that the trees which are grown in the reserve forest area were grown nearly 20 years back.

The villagers of Keirao, Langdum, Uran Chiru and Yaipharok Maring Khul cut down the trees during night time and lifted them trucks in during the day.

These trees and the wooden boards made from them are mainly used in construction of houses.

Some of the villagers also make deep cut on the pine trees to extract resins.

They don't even spare the young trees.

And since the trees are deeply cut to extract resins, they automatically began to dry up.

However, the officials of Irilbung Forest Beat remain silent spectator to all these activities.

If the officials have been performing their duties well and checking illegal felling of trees, then Nongmaiching Reserve Forest area would have been luxuriant deserving the tag of a protected forest area.

On the other hand, officials of Irilbung Forest Beat maintained that most of the trees in Nongmaijing Reserve Forest area fell in the recent thunderstorm.

They also claimed that some villagers involved in cutting down of trees were caught red-handed but were released considering their condition.

Moreover, Irilbung Forest Beat lacks adequate staffs and most of the staffs working in the Forest Beat presently are getting old.

This also created problem in checking destructive activities inside the reserved forest area.