TURA: Phulbari legislator SG Esmatur Mominin has found himself in a spot after an order allegedly in his handwriting allowing auction of trees on government property was circulated.
The matter came to light after some concerned residents posted information about felling and alleged that the order was given by the MLA. The piece of paper on which the order was written shows the name, designation and other details of the MLA, who is also called Rahibul.
According to forest officials and the Forest Development Corporation of Meghalaya (FDCM), the allowing felling of trees on government land is illegal.
Incidentally, Mominin is also the chairman of the Forest Department. In the order that did not specify a date, the MLA has asked the ranger of FDCM in the area to allot 500 CFT of timber available to one Shah Jahan Islam Sarkar. The order was given to the ranger of Chanuparam about four days ago.According to sources, the order is wrong as the chairman cannot ask a ranger to allot or auction.
The order for allotment or auction needs to come from the FDCM.
FDCM is the corporation allowed to auction seized timbers in Meghalaya. Auctions are done through advertisements released by FDCM and after a due process. While there are many questions raised on how the order was given, the situation got murkier after it was found that there were no seized timbers in the depot of Chanupara near Chibinang in West Garo Hills district.
“Seeing that there was no seized timber, they immediately began to cut trees present in the property of the FDCM, all of which were teak or sal. I was unaware of what was happening as the order copy was not given to me as I was in Tura to look after a sick member of my family,” said the FDCM ranger from Chanupara.
NGO members of the area visited the spot and halted felling to which the allotees refused to listen. It was only after the intervention of the police that felling was stopped.
“At last count they have already felled eight teak trees at least. When we tried to stop they showed power of the local MLA and continued doing what they wanted to,” said one of the FDCM officials from the range.
A forest official on condition of anonymity provided more details of the increasing cases of timber smuggling and illegal saw mills in the Chibinang area.
“It is really frustrating. Even when we seize illegal mills and timber, they show muscle power and even threaten to beat up officials. Two days after their machines are seized they restart operations. What can we do,” asked a frustrated forest official. A top official of the FDCM in Shillong said the office had no idea that such an order was given.
“How did he give the order in the first place? Is he the chairman of forests to destroy forests or protect it? This is not only illegal but also a dangerous precedent,” said an NGO member from Phulbari.
Meanwhile, the territorial forest department has stated that investigation into the matter will begin on Thursday.
The MLA, however, tried to play down the issue and called it a “misunderstanding”.
“They misconstrued the order and cut down trees instead. It has been stopped after the matter was informed to me,” said Mominin.
