FSI reports of massive felling, transportation of timber in Garo Hills
By Our Reporter
Shillong: The State Forest and Environment Department has rubbished the allegation made by Ranjit Singh Gill, Joint Director, Forest Survey of India (FSI), who has alleged that roughly 12 million cubic feet of timber worth several thousand crores of rupees was felled in the reserved forests in Garo Hills.
VK Nautiyal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, while rubbishing the allegations said, “The fact is that right the FSI reports have assessed the vegetation cover in the State but that does mean the forest area in the State.”
He also stated that if the FSI includes areas under jhum cultivation where some vegetation may grow after being abandoned then it is unacceptable and the Forest Act may have to be revisited.
It may be mentioned that Gill had in the last part of 2010 sent a written complaint to the Director General, FSI about Meghalaya’s forest cover based on the State Forest Report (SFR), 2009 filed by the Meghalaya Government, wherein he alleged that the SFR did not mention the two reserve forests in Garo Hills which were ravaged due to illegal timber trade.
Following his complaint, FSI sent a team of four officials to Meghalaya of which Gill was also a member.
The FSI team inspected Dibru Hills Reserve Forests and Holloidonga Beat in West Garo Hills district and discovered littered tree stumps of grounded trees.
It is learnt that the FSI 2009 Report was based on satellite imagery.
When asked if the technology utilized by FSI was faulty since it took into consideration the vegetation and other plantations in the State, Nautiyal said that the fault lies with the land tenure system in Meghalaya since the areas bearing trees and vegetation are not under direct control of the government but is under the management of the autonomous district councils and the village councils.
Dismissing Gill’s allegation, Nautiyal said that the amount of timber that Gill had mentioned means 40,000 truck load of timber over a period of 1 year, which amounts to 200 trucks going out of the reserve forests daily without being seen by anyone.
Nautiyal also claimed that Gill had been involved in some irregularities while he was earlier posted in Garo Hills and is alleged to be involved in a massive forest scam.
Nautiyal also questioned the visit of the FSI team to Garo Hills, saying, “We had not received any communiqué from the FSI. If there was any such inspection it would have been intimated beforehand.”
Meanwhile, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court recently directed the State Forest department to submit details of timber seized in the State between 2002-09 to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Nautiyal informed that the State Forest department had already submitted the details to the MoEF. Stating that such seizure is a normal thing, he said that cutting of trees is a minor offence and there is no such forest in the entire world where such illegalities do not occur.
“We have the Meghalaya Forest Regulation Act under which culprits have been caught and are being tried in the courts,” he said.