Forest cover in Maoist-hit Lalgarh in danger of depletion

The continuous felling of trees in Maoist-hit Lalgarh in West Bengal is leading to a rapid loss of forest cover in the area.

The trees are being cut by Maoists and wood smugglers.

Over the past two years, several trees have been cut down with maximum occurrences of tree felling during shutdowns and strikes called by the ultras.

Maoists have cut down several of the evergreen Sal trees over the years causing huge damage to the region's green cover.

"Many Sal trees have cut down by the Maoists over the years," said Sudhakar Mandi, a villager.

Lalgarh's Divisional Forest Officer Asis Kumar Samanta said illegal wood smuggling is heavily rampant, with several wood mills illegally running in the region.

"We can't deny that in the last two years of extremely disturbed times, many trees have been cut down. We have seized about 10-15 trucks carrying illegal wood and have raided about 80-90 illegal wood mills. We are now into making arrangements for re-plantation in the area to recover the forestlands," said Samanta. (ANI)