Rescue Chitral from Catastrophe
 

In the garb of auctioning windfall timber Forest Development Corporation and Divisional Forest Office Chitral opened best window for timber mafia in Chitral so that meager forest resources are smuggled to down country and the whole district is exposed to torrential rain and imminent flood in the coming monsoon and summer season.

Usually windfall and other timbers are collected in the stall of forest department Chitral and auctioned to Timber contractors by Forest Department. These auctioned timbers are purchased through high bidding by contractors and all of them are replaced with other illegally supplied and these are marked as auctioned timber to deceive people with close collaboration of local forest department. Auctioned timbers are left in Chitral or some portion of them are also mixed up with smuggled timber and supply to down district in order to sale at higher price. This practice of smuggling causes both lose to government exchequer as well as heavy loss to local community in terms of severe deforestation and increase in price of timber in local markets.

Another problem with meager source of forest is marking by forest contractors. Under forest rule 2002 only diseased, windfall and dry standing trees are marked for subsequent collection by forest contractors. But here in Chitral the case is totally opposite. In garb of marking green deodar trees are ruthlessly harvested by contractor through machines in the forest of Shishikoh, Kalash Valleyes, Arandu and other surrounding forest of Chitral which is totally prohibited under forest rules. Community Activist of Chitral and general public is feeling serious concern that forest of Chitral has been intentionally destroyed by few members of timber mafia and government of KP and federal government are totally silent spectators over the situation. If this process continued without break then peaceful people of Chitral will become violent to protect their green gold and the whole responsibility will be on government and forest department. In this grim circumstance it is requested to provincial government to banned movement of Auctioned timber from Chitral to down country which result smuggling.

There should also be complete ban on marking (Artificial Harvesting) in Chitral so that people of the area could be rescued from havoc and catastrophe of floods in coming summer days. All the stakeholders are requested to rescue Chitral from clutches of timber mafia. -- Abdul Bari, Ex-UC Nazim Drosh, 26 Jan 2012

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