DERA GHAZI KHAN, April 9: The lack of proper planning by the Punjab Forest Department and ongoing cutting of trees by the timber mafia has depleted the district of forests. In Dera Ghazi Khan, only 8,000 acres are covered with trees against 3.05 million acres reserved for forests in the district.

Trees lined along 110 kilometre-long roads of the district are being stolen openly but only one case of wood theft has been registered in the last seven years. Even this case awaits its conclusion as neither police are taking any action against the accused nor the district government is willing to pursue the case.

According to the Forest Act of 1927, the government could slap fine for wood theft that varies according to age, size and specie of the tree. The act was amended last year and fine was increased by 10 percent.

Law states no one can cut the tree without taking permission from the authorities. The Tehsil Municipal Administration has cut scores of trees in the name of road-widening without getting permission from the authorities.

A committee comprising the executive district officer (agriculture), district officer (forest), a union nazim and a representative of the district nazim, can permit cutting of trees for any important purpose.

Dera Ghazi Khan District Forest Officer Abdul Rehman Khan told Dawn that under the devolution plan, the district government could only manage a wooded area on 2,000 acres but forests on more than 2,000 acres would be managed by the provincial forest department. Under the devolution plan, the district forest department can plant saplings on private land and on the premises of government offices.