Trees illegally cut at Amsang

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

DIMORIA, Sept 21: Massive tree felling has posed serious threat to the Amchang wildlife sanctuary that shelters wide-ranging wildlife, besides providing some much-needed green cover for the city.

“Illegal tree-felling has been ubated in the sanctuary posing serious threat to its existence,” said a local.

Locals alleged that a section of people have secretly cut down sagoon trees of the wildlife sanctuary in Jorbat close to NH 37.

Locals on Thursday spotted some felled trees which were kept hiding inside the wildlife sanctuary. 

They alleged that some timber smugglers in collusion with a section of forest officials have carried out tree felling in the wildlife sanctuary and have used for preparing coal.  

Amchang was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004 but over the years growing encroachment has eroded a substantial portion of the 78.64-sq km sanctuary since it was upgraded to a protected area.

Amchang comprises three reserve forests — Amchang, South Amchang and Khapara. Before declaring it a protected area, no initiative was taken to evict encroachers from the Khapara reserve forest. With the inclusion of the Khapara reserve forest in the sanctuary, the encroachers also got accommodated inside the protected area even though the law strictly prohibits any human settlement inside protected areas.