Timber smugglers managed to build a kutcha road in and around the core area of Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve.
GUWAHATI: As India refocuses on tiger conservation after the deaths of 30 big cats in the first two months of 2023, a challenge that daunts the administrators is timber smuggling.
On Tuesday, officials in India’s easternmost Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh discovered that the timber smugglers had managed to build a kutcha road in and around the core area of Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve.
It is approximately a 20 km road, motorable only for 4x4 TC trucks. Some 1-2 km of it falls inside the park while the remaining stretch is in its buffer zone. It was detected during an operation conducted by a joint team of the administration and the forest department.
The team, led by District Magistrate Sunny K Singh, also detected large-scale timber smuggling.
“It was a difficult operation and the smugglers made it even more difficult by blocking our way with logs. However, the members of the team showed unmatched strength and cleared the path,” Singh told this newspaper on Thursday.
Official sources said it is difficult to comprehend how the smugglers carried out the large-scale illegal activities under the nose of forest department officials. The administration directed forest officials to ensure strict monitoring of all suspected areas adjoining Namdapha and take stringent action against the smugglers.
The DM said the sighting of a Royal Bengal Tiger in the park last month after eight years was not a mere coincidence. He attributed it to habitat destruction owing to timber smuggling in the catchment of Mpen Nallah – a stream.
“The catchment of Mpen Nallah has dried up due to deforestation. It is the source of water for the animals of Namdapha as well as the residents of the Miao subdivision. If there is a scarcity of water, there will surely be human-animal conflicts,” Singh said.
The park straddles 1,982 sq km but it has only a handful of forest guards, said the DM who is passionate about forests and wildlife.
The team had seized one JCB, one Pickup truck and two TC trucks – one of them timber-laden. Another JCB and two TC trucks were found abandoned in the jungle. They were immobilised on the spot, so they cannot be taken away by the smugglers.
According to preliminary estimates, over 2,000 CFT of timber was found lying at several illegal depots en route. Some people, allegedly involved in timber smuggling, were arrested and an FIR was lodged.
“It is a strict warning that nobody should dare touch Namdapha. The administration is fully committed to preserving the rich flora and fauna of the national park. We will go to every possible length under the ambit of the law to preserve its sanctity,” the DM said.
“A thought must be put behind rationalising the number of sawmills in the vicinity of the park’s core area. In addition, it shall be ensured that the sawmills do not take illegal timber,” sources said.
They emphasised the creation of awareness among the locals on the importance of wildlife conservation.
“If there is an awareness that the locals will benefit from the promotion of Namdapha-based tourism, they themselves will create pressure for the park’s conservation,” these sources said.
