FOREST AND CONTRACTOR MAFIA BUSY IN FELLING FULL GROWN UP TREES IN GARHWAL, UTTARAKHAND

There have been lots of hue and cry in Uttarakhand over the mass felling of green trees, possibly about forty thousand in numbers according to a conservative estimate, whereas in actuality it can go to lacs as the prime minister Narendra Modi’s over ambitious all weather road project seems to be a gigantic one with an estimated total cost exceeding 12000 crores. It is believed that the work is going on full swing with sub contracts of this massive project being given to the contractors living outside Uttarakhand with no local ornegligible number of people being obliged as a work force in these projects.

The environmentalists and social activists including the NGOs, worried for the environmental and ecological degration of the himalayas have been writing and raising their voice in protest but of no avail.

The government and the volunteers of the saffron party instead term these environmental protectors as their enemy number one and anti development.

The most disastrous ecological disaster of 2013 is still fresh in everyones’ mind while the governments of the state and the centre seem to be negligibly bothered to save the environment by protecting the trees.

It says that 10 trees will be planted in inlieu of the one tree felled. But who will make them understand and realise that a fully grown fresh oxygen emmitting tree takes full twenty years to grow and if it is cut, and new plants grown in its place, the question is would the nature wait for twenty long years and suffer till then confronting ecological disasters, natural calamities and floods.After all, these new grown plants require constant monitoring for at least few months or years initially. Does the government has the requisite system or manpower to do the needful. I think its a big no.

Uttarakhand has already suffered badly due to the non scientific and anti environment friendly development leading to massive deforestation, landslides, squeezing of rivers due to over accumulation of slit and landslide waste into them including that of the dynamite explosions, constructions of huge dams, hundreds of kilometres of tunnels and over 4 lakh dynamite explosions till yet have made our hills completely fragile, hollow and weak from inside.

The construction of multistorey hotels, guest houses and buildings of residences have further added to the voes of the already degraded environment and the local populace thereof.

In Uttarakhand, unfortunately the large scale felling of trees in the name of unscientific development and minting huge profits by the forest mafia in league with the authorities concerned is shockingly on the rise.

These increasing man made activities have also disturbed the flora and fauna of the hills and its green forests in particular are the greatest victims and as a result about more than 200 tigers and leopards have become maneaters killing hundreds of the local inhabitants.

The picture above shows the huge trees having been cut illegally by the private contractors in the name of clearing the jungles for the road construction project inaugurated by the state’s current Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj and his then minister wife Amrita Rawat in 2006 at Thalisain area of GARHWAL, UTTATAKHAND. During 2006 Satpal was not thefull fledged cabinet minister.

According to the report of scribe Anuj Negi the local BJP leaders and the contractor in league had cladestinely under the guise of the road construction and to mint heavy monetory profits, have illegally cut unacounted number of green and fully grown up trees of Pine and Oak thus openly throwing to winds the forest acts.

It may be recalled that the inauguration of the road called Baijro, Jogimadhi, Saraikhet Marg via Saraikhet to connect Almora district was inaugurated in 2016 as above.

Since the road cold not be contructed for the last ten years the local populace suffered tremendously, they pressurised the current Tourism minister to get it constructed at least now. Under the pressure of Satpal Maharaj the PWD allotted the tender to some local influential leaders associated to the BJP.

But the forest department has not accorded any permission to these contractors to cut the full grown pine and Oak trees. However, the tragedy of the story is , these influential contractors connected to BJP possesing tremendous political clout, got hundreds of these full grown trees cut from the bottom thus openly violating and flouting the forest act and what is more worrisome is the fact that the forest officials literally surrendered in front of these forest and building mafia for the reasons best known to them.

Report suggests: the matter has been reported to the SDM of Thalisain who’d ordered an enquiry into the entire episode. Such massive tree cuttings have been taking place in various parts of Uttarakhand and the journalists’ highlighting such cases like Ashutosh Negi of Jaago Uttarakhand are being threatened with dire consequences like life threats.