Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Smugglers built the 11-km road for smuggling timber

The Government of Nepal launched The Rs. 15 million worth President Chure Conservation Program with a view to conserving the Chure range and control deforestation in the area. The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation designed the program but the government made delay in endorsing it and releasing the budget in time. It is now evident that all efforts at sustainable development of the Chure range have failed. 
Wildlife officials, including director-general of the Forest Department Bajra Kishor Yadav, today visited Chure forests on the border of Kanchanpur and Dadeldhura districts in the wake of reports that deforestation has been going on unabated in the area.
During the inspection of the Baijanath community forest, Uddhav Bahadur Khadka, chairman of the forest, told the team that more than 55 Sal trees have been felled in the forest.
The inspecting team suspected that members of the community forest are hand in glove with timber smugglers. When the team was inspecting the illegal road connecting the Ganesh community forest in
Dadeldhura with the Bhairab community forest, about 200 locals of Jogbudha thronged to the forest in a bid to bar the team from inspecting the road. The locals claimed to have built the road to ease travel, though the Kanchanpur District Forest Office says smugglers have built the 11-km road for smuggling timber and other forest resources.

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