GILGIT, June 23: Timber mafia, taking the undue advantage of poor surface communications, has cut down around 1,200 trees in the Alpine forests belt of Ghasu and Jaglote Sai in Gilgit District, well-placed sources said on Friday.

The sources told Dawn that in the faraway and hilly forest regions in Gilgit and Diamer districts, timber Mafia had become active in cutting down trees mainly owing to the lack of communication and vigilance on the part of the Northern Areas Forest Department.

A source at the department said that after snow melting in the hilly areas, illegal cutting of the trees continued unabated as the department had not adequate manpower and logistics to monitor the activities of criminals.

The sources said the forest at Ghasu were inaccessible; to reach there, people had to travel 14-hour on foot from Sai, which prevented the forest officials from taking any step against the Mafia.

In reply to a question, an official of the forest department said that a team had been formed to carry out the probe into timber scam at Sai, and the people responsible for damaging the natural forests would be punished.