MANSEHRA, Oct 28: Efforts were being made by officials of the forest department for remission of Rs3.5 million fine imposed by the governor's inspection team (GIT) on a Joint Forest Management Cooperative Society (JFMCS) in the Devli Jabbar area of the Seron Forest Division, Mansehra, an official of the department told Dawn here on Thursday.
The penalty, according to the official, was imposed on the Devli JFMCS when the GIT on public complaints visited the area few months back and found that dozens of healthy and green trees had been fallen instead extracting timber from dry fallen trees in the Devli forest compartment No.13 by the Devli JFMCS.
He claimed that a large number of trees in the Devli forest were not only illegally exploited by the Devli JFMCS in compartment No.13 but also in compartment Nos.16, 21 22, 23, 35, 36, 40 and 41 of the private forest, Guzara, and in compartment Nos.2,3,4 and 5 of the government reserved forest.
He said that a divisional forest officer (DFO) hailing from Mansehra but is posted elsewhere was also the member of the GIT. The DFO allegedly connived with the chairman of the Devli JFMCS and restricted the GIT only to the inspection of compartment No.13, concealing the extensive damage done to other compartments in the private and the government reserved forest, involving more than Rs30 million fine, the official disclosed.
He further said that the large-scale illegal cutting of healthy and green standing trees by the Devli JFMCS continued unabated in connivance with the officials of the forest department.
He claimed that a former DFO of the Seron forest range and a range officer of the Jabouri forest range, having close relations with the chairman of the Devli JFMCS, were making all-out efforts for the remission of fine by the conservator of forest Hazara division.
The official alleged that the damage done to the forest of Devli and Jabbar was much more than the figures given by the GIT and there was no plausible reason for the remission of fine.
He said that the remains of the illegally fallen trees could still be seen everywhere in the forest of Devli and Jabbar which is an evidence of the ruthless cutting of the forest and an eye-opener for the high-ups of the forest department intending remission of the fine imposed on the Devli JFMCS.