Chamba Forest Department recovers six logs of illegally felled deodar trees

Our Correspondent

Chamba, March 13

Teams of the Forest Department (Chamba) recovered six logs of deodar trees in the Sarni forest under the Chil Bangla forest beat of the district.

The logs were of two deodar trees felled illegally by unidentified individuals, who had concealed the logs within the thick foliage in the forest.

Hidden in foliage

• The logs were of two deodar trees felled by unidentified individuals, who had concealed the logs in thick foliage in the forest.
• The trees were allegedly felled in the first week of this month, and the beat officer lodged a complaint with the police soon after.
• The logs were missing from the place, indicating these had been removed.

The trees were allegedly felled in the first week of this month, and the local beat officer lodged a complaint with the police soon after.

The Forest Department and the police launched a manhunt to apprehend the perpetrators. According to the complaint by forest officers, while conducting patrols in the Sarni forest on March 5, the forest guard discovered that two trees had been felled illegally.

The logs were missing from the place, indicating these had been removed.

After noticing the felling, the forest guard notified higher authorities. Following an inspection of the site by the Beat Officer (BO), a police First Information Report (FIR) was filed against unknown individuals.

According to Beat Officer Sanjeev Kumar Soni, the teams conducted search operations for logs within the forest area. On Tuesday, six logs of wood were discovered during a search. The teams were conducting patrols round the clock, and the suspects would be apprehended soon, he added.

This incident underscores the ongoing challenges faced in safeguarding the Chamba forests against illegal felling. Earlier this week, the department had busted an inter-state gang involved in the smuggling of maple wood from Chamba’s high altitude and remote forests.

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