Illegal felling of trees in Konni; 108 trees were cut and smuggled from revenue and forest land

PATHANAMTHITTA: 108 trees worth lakhs were illegally cut and smuggled from the Revenue and Forest land of Aruvappulam village in Konni, which comes under the eco-sensitive zone. The intelligence wing of the forest department discovered this. Huge teak, mahogany and maruti trees were cut and smuggled in the last ten months. Most of these trees are 30-80 years old. The culprits tried to destroy the evidence by burning the stumps of the trees. The felling of trees was found within the limits of the Naduvathumoozhy range office of the Konni Forest Division.

The trees were taken to the Pathanapuram region via the Njavanal check post. The illegal felling of trees took place under the guise of a wood-cutting pass in the lands of two persons in Aruvappulam village. 93 trees were cut down from revenue land, while 15 trees were cut down from forest land inhabited by tribals. It is alleged that a wood smuggling gang is behind it with the connivance of some forest officials in the Naduvathumoozhy range.

The illegal tree felling was discovered during an investigation after finding that 15 trees on revenue land were illegally cut under the guise of a pass issued by the forest department to cut 25 trees on a person's land. According to the Kasthurirangan report, Aruvappulam village is an ecologically sensitive area. Permission is required to cut down trees even from the land of private persons in this region.

No marking on trees

The law stipulates that the Forest Department must mark the trees on revenue land in environmentally sensitive areas. Trees cut down in Naduvathumoozhy were not marked. The law that forest officials must be present at the site when trees are cut down by private persons after obtaining a pass was also not followed.