M Majid Malik
Bhaderwah
Smugglers are ‘enjoying patronage of the forest officials’ in Bhaderwah where ruthless chopping of forests is taking place unabated. Timber smugglers who were inactive for last several years are nowadays active again in Bhaderwah division of Doda district, locals allege.
Locals of the area said that green Deodars, Kail and Fir trees are being felled by “organized gangs”.
Forest department few days ago claimed to have launched a massive drive against timber smuggling in Chiralla Range of Bhaderwah in District Doda and seized 157 clefts of timber.
Sources in the department informed that some forest officials from Bhaderwah division managed to seize illegally extracted timber worth lakhs from compartment number 1 of Chiralla Range.
Locals allege that some officials of Forest department are in hand and glove with the timber mafia.
According to locals the massive illegal cutting of cedar trees in Neeru, Killar, Chiralla and Gandho forest ranges of Bhaderwah division in Jammu can pose a serious threat to ecological balance.
