Environment protection: Action against timber ‘mafia’ demanded

Another senior official of the forest department confirmed the smuggling.

CHITRAL: Residents of Chitral have urged the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take note of illegal axing of the precious Deodar tree by the timber smugglers and save the serene land from deforestation.

They said cutting of the Deodar tree at Lowari top goes unchecked due to collusion of forest department officials with the timber smugglers. The forest check post at Ziarat near Lowari top is also closed and thus there is nobody to curb the smuggling of timber, said locals. When contacted, Shah Wazir, conservator of forest department of Chitral at Timergara, said that strict action would be taken against officials found involved with the timer mafia. Another senior official of the forest department confirmed that the smuggling of Deodar tree from Arandu forest to Bajawar and Afghanistan is being carried out. The cutting of the Deodar trunk is specifically banned in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.