SWAT: Criticising ‘extensive deforestation’ in Madyan tehsil, the civil society activists have threatened street protests over the issue.

During a meeting in Mingora, civil society members and youth activists criticised the forest department for its failure to contain the large-scale illegal felling of trees in the Piya Chancharey area of Madyan tehsil.

They complained that they reported the matter to authorities, but action wasn’t taken against the culprits.

Iqbal Khan of the Fatehpur area wondered why illegal tree felling in the region increased after the formation of the current government a few months ago, with a Swat lawmaker being the forest minister.

He also said the forest department had utterly failed to check the illegal activity.

The participants complained that 447 trees were illegally chopped down in the Lowara Deoloai area of Kabal tehsil.

“If we don’t act, the ‘timber mafia’ will deprive Swat of its forests, and therefore, we’ve decided to mobilise youth from across the region and develop a strategy against it and the forest department,” said Akhtar Ali of Kabal.

He said the civil society of Swat would soon move the court against the KP Woodlot Rules, 2017, which allowed private landowners to harvest trees.

The participants said private forest owners often chopped down double the trees permitted in the no objection certificate issued by the forest department.

“When the forest department issues a NOC for 100 trees in a private woodlot, the owners fell 200 or more trees with the illegal activity going unnoticed,” said Amjad Khan.

Zubair Khan of Mingora said valuable trees at the Saidu Teaching Hospital were illegally cut down.

“Those trees were planted during the times of the formerly Swat state, but the current hospital administration chopped them down without informing the forest department, showing a lack of the rule of law in Swat,” he said.

When contacted, Upper Swat forest officer Shah Khalid said the videos and photos of tree felling circulating on social media were from the past.

He said the department had lodged an FIR against the illegal tree felling in the winter.

However, Lower Swat forest officer Mohammad Waseem told Dawn that the forest department had issued NOCs to people for cutting down 447 trees in Deolai tehsil’s Kabal forest under the KP Woodlot Rules, 2017.

He also said an inquiry had been launched into tree felling at the Saidu Teaching Hospital.

“Legal action will be taken against violators of the rules,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2024