TURA: Illegal tree felling and smuggling of timber from the reserve forests of Garo Hills continues to plague the forested region of East Garo Hills with forest authorities once again seizing two cars laden with sawn timber on Tuesday evening.
Timber smugglers have been focusing on the Rongrenggre (Williamnagar) and Darugre (Rongjeng) reserve forests.
State forest department patrol teams intercepted two Maruti 800 cars that were each packed with about a dozen logs of freshly sawn wood from the Darugre reserve forests.
The smugglers had tried to cover the logs with a blanket and on being checked, it was found that there were no documents or papers to justify the transit of the timber. One person accompanying the consignment has been detained by the authorities.
Following a clampdown on the illegal trade with frequent patrolling and frisking of trucks and buses, smugglers have begun using small vehicles to avoid detection.
A few months back, forest personnel spotted two Wingers on the isolated Rongjeng to Songsak road. The Assam based vehicles were stopped and were found carrying a huge number of sawn timbers packed from the floor up to the window and concealed with plastic sheets.
Another mini truck was found packed with timber which the smugglers had concealed by filling the top with bags of vegetables to avoid detection.
Despite the best efforts of forest personnel to contain this menace, timber smugglers continue to make attempts in view of the high demand for wood in neighbouring Assam.
