Mafia exploits curbs to damage to green cover, Over 3K cases of illegal felling of trees registered

The Covid-19 induced restrictions have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for timber mafia in Jammu and Kashmir as the people involved in timber smuggling inflicted ‘maximum damage in minimum time’ to green cover in the Union Territory.

If one goes by official statistics, over 3,300 cases of illegal felling of trees have been registered in J&K since the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 till October this year. The first case of Covid-19 was reported in the Union Territory on March 8 last year.

“A total of 2,199 cases of illegal felling of trees were registered in 2020-21 in J&K. Further, during the current year, as many as 1,166 cases have been registered till October this year”, official sources told.
Sources said the protection of forests continued to remain a major challenge in the Union Territory, especially in the times of Covid-19 as timber mafia in connivance with officials concerned managed to deplete the forest cover by axing a large chunk of green over with impunity.

“Since the exact number of trees axed since the outbreak of pandemic is not known, the registered cases, as reported by the forest officials, is quite high. It has come to fore that unscrupulous elements took advantage of the lack of movement (of officials) during the lockdown to deplete the forest wealth. There are instances where such elements even used diesel cutters which inflict maximum damage in minimum time to forest cover,” sources said.

A senior official of the department of forest, ecology and environment, who declined to be named, claimed that suitable action was being taken by the government for reducing illegal felling of the trees. “The government’s actions need to be supplemented by the local support of the people,” the official said.

Pertinently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), in 2017, had also taken cognizance of illegal felling of trees and directed a committee formed by it to file a comprehensive report regarding alleged unauthorized felling of a large number of trees in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The erosion of the forest cover has caused the destruction of the forest and would adversely affect the environment, eco-system, the plants and animals living within the forests. This has further resulted in drastic changes in the environment and the quality of life of people living in and around the forests,” the NGT had said.