MINGORA: The local youth have demanded of the provincial government to take solid steps against the large scale cutting of forests in Kalam.

They said that despite tall claims the government wide scale illegal cutting was underway in Kalam tehsil.

They said that they found during a cleanliness campaign that many trees were cut in the forest of Bouyun in Kalam.

“We were shocked to see large scale cutting of fresh trees in the forest of Bouyn. Besides fresh logs, there were a number of big wooden planks which were cut down of the fallen trees,” said Irfanullah Umair, a student and youth activist.

He said that a timber mafia group had been involved in illegal cutting of forests for long time but the forest department was helpless to take action against it.

“We also saw the lower parts of the trees on fire as some people or timber mafia tried to kill the trees for making it legal to cut them later,” said Sheeraz, another student, who visited Kalam for the cleanliness campaign.

The youth said that they worked for clean environment and always tried to clean the forests from plastic bags and litters left by the tourists.

They said that cutting of forests cast negative effects on the environment of the region.

They criticised the government for taking steps to protect the forests.

The youth demanded of the government to take practical steps to stop illegal cutting of trees in the forests of Swat.

They also staged an awareness walk in Kalam against illegal cutting of trees and asked the local people to keep the area clean and beautiful.

DFO Arsalan Tariq, when contacted, said that his team took action against the timber mafia and recovered the planks. “We have arrested the culprits along with the forest guard of the Boyun forest compartment,” he said, adding that the confiscated timber was shifted to Kalam forest office.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2018