ABBOTTABAD, July 16: Owners of forests in Hazara on Monday demanded lifting of ban on the cutting and sale of timber and legal cover to the business, especially of windfall wood.

Anjuman-i-Tuhafuz Haqooq Malikan Hazara Division President Jehanzeb Khan advocate said at a press conference at the press club that the business was being carried out illegally and the government could earn taxes and other revenue on it.

He said the ban which was imposed 10 years back was relaxed last year for one year but no wood could be transported due to unnecessary formalities of the forest department and millions of feet of windfall wood was lying in the different parts of Hazara.

He said there was no ban on the lifting of windfall wood in Northern Areas, Kashmir and other areas while it is imposed in Malakand and Hazara. He said hundreds of families were deprived of their livelihood and they had decided to cultivate potatoes and other vegetables instead of growing forests.

The organization’s office-bearers said the NWFP was losing billions of rupees in revenue while illegal of cutting of forests and transportation of wood to other areas was on its peak.

Jahanzeb Khan said that if cutting of forests damaged environment, the ban should apply throughout the country.