PHULBARI, June 20: Various NGOs of Tikrikilla region along with the Range Forest Office of Hollaidanga in West Garo Hills (WGH) on Monday worked in tandem to help seize another illegal sawmill in the plain belt region.
The latest follows efforts by the Phulbari GHADC Range to put a stop to the illegal and rampant felling of trees for timber as well the hundreds of illegal sawmills that have sprouted in the region, defying all efforts to put to a stop the illegal trade.
The raid was led by the state forest team of the territorial range along with CEPARD, NGCO, AAPE, ACHIK and FAF. The NGOs had earlier pointed to more than 10 such illegally operating saw mills in just the Hollaidanga area under Tikrikilla Police Station limits.
Sources have added that there could be at least another 50 such illegal operators in the Tikrikilla region along with double the number in the Phulbari area.
The timber that comes to these mills apparently comes from the low-lying hills of the plain belt. These sawmills belong to both the indigenous and non-indigenous people from the region as well as those from neighbouring Assam.
“This is a menace that needs to be stopped with immediate effect due to the danger it poses to the environment and to the water table. We have seen how water has become a scarce resource even in places which had abundant water. Unless we make efforts to stop these illegal acts, our region will soon become bone dry in the years to come,” informed CEPARD president Gloringstone Marak.
The illegal sawmill dismantled on Monday belonged to one Mohibul of Jugirjhar.
During the seizure, the extent of damage caused to the environment could be gauged from the fact that within the premises of the sawmill, hundreds of logs of various ages lay around – most of which were not even mature trees.
The seized materials were later brought to the Range office at Hollaidanga after zimma was taken.
