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| State loses 25 lac SFT of timber annualy | | Loot of green gold continues unabated | | Shakeel A Khan
SRINAGAR, May 26: The state government seems to have given free hand to the timber smugglers as the loot of green gold is going on unabated.
Every year smugglers manage to get twenty to twenty five lakh square feet of timber illegally." There is a nexus between the officials of the forest department and the smugglers. Smuggling of timber in such a huge quantity is not possible without the involvement of the officers of the concerned department," said Nisar Ahmad of Khag Budgam.
The day is not far away when the state will be deprived of this non - renewable natural resource if a check is not put on this illegal practice. Also the place will offer an ugly look if it is shorn of the trees at such a tremendous rate. "The state forest corporation extracts round about thirty five lakh square feet of timber every year from the forests of Jammu and Kashmir. Smugglers also manage to get same amount. If the felling of the trees takes place at such a pace then the time is not away when there will be no trees left on the earth," said Sajad Ahmad from Baramulla.
The timber imported from other states isn't easily available in the market. Its availability, as people say, would have considerably minimized the felling of trees, but unfortunately it hasn't happened.
"Our forests continue to face the danger of extinction because there is a huge demand - supply gap causing a pressure like situation which leads to felling of trees in great numbers," said Imtiyaz Ahmad from Ganderbal.
There seem to be no laws in practice which would have ensured the safety of our forests. The government of Jammu and Kashmir is habitual of making tall claims that the forests are safe. In fact the government is strengthening the hands of the smugglers and helps them to execute their ill plans.
The people apprehend that the forest officials have adopted the policy of 'live and let live'. These officials have the information as to who is involved in this crime. But instead of acting hard against them, they give them a free hand because they get a healthy percentage from these criminals.
Gulzar Ahmad from central Kashmir said, "Now the smugglers dare the government in the broad day light. It happened only a couple of days before that a strong group of fifty smugglers inflicted grievous injuries to the officials of the forest department depicting how careless the government is."
If the government fails to address the concerns of the environmentalists, then the state of Jammu and Kashmir is going to lose its thick green forests for which it is known world over. If it happens, the fertile land will get transformed into the barren one leading to the food scarcity. |
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