Unkindly cuts
DEFORESTATION has become a major problem in north-eastern India. In the past 2 years, more than 63,500 ha of forests have been destroyed in the region, 24,300 in Assam alone. This alarming trend has finally drawn the attention of the Union government and, according to government sources, prime minister P V Narasimha Rao will meet the chief ministers of the north-eastern states to discuss the problem. Also, the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has initiated a review of the forestry sector in the region.
Although the meeting has been postponed, Union environment minister Kamal Nath has set the ball rolling. Nath met the forest ministers of the north-eastern states on May 19 to find ways to check further degradation of forests. Among the reasons cited for the depletion of forest cover are encroachment of forest land, illicit felling and smuggling, insurgency, and shifting cultivation.
Participant states have agreed to place more stringent restrictions on the movement of timber within the region and the MEF is expected to recommend that the transport of round timber outside the region be banned. Besides, Kamal Nath has warned that he will invoke the Environment Protection Act if the north-eastern states do not stop issuing licences to saw mills and plywood units.