Tura, April 18: A reserve forest in Meghalaya’s Garo hills has come under a threat with discovery of coal deposits. Unscrupulous coal traders in nexus with forest officials have started illegal mining at Rongrenggre Forest Reserve in East Garo Hills.
The forest reserve is under scrutiny for lost of 60 per cent of its green cover.
Several organisations have been raising flak over it, as traders and militants have been engaged in felling the trees for timber and fire wood.
The mining at the reserve has raised an alarm bell in Williamnagar. The reserve is located barely about 4 km from the town.
“Illegal felling of tree has been there for a decade now. Even after several protest, nothing much has been done to protect the green cover. We have been struggling to ensure that the protected area is conserved”, said Senseng Marak, president of Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People, Williamnagar unit.
A survey conducted by different civil societies from Williamnagar reveals that huge segment inside the reserve forest have been opened for mining.
Chisim Marak, an educated youth, who lives in the vicinity of the reserve said, “Vested interested parties have literally occupied the whole forest with no one to care. The discovery of the coal deposits, its extraction is a dangerous trend. A river runs through this forest and people depend on it for water. Mining should not be allowed”.
Another activist, Taison D Shira has blamed district administration for the problem, which is slowly affecting the fragile ecology.
“The timber and extracted coal has to be taken through the highways. It could have been stopped at various check points – Songsak, Tura and Williamnagar, but administration is silent on this”, said Shira.
The issue of mining at the reserve forest has drawn huge criticism with an influential rights body — centre for environmental protection and rural development vowing to take up the matter. An activist of the organisation Treepon Sangma said, “It seems very clear that there is something wrong. How is it so easy to transport forest products from within the range, when there are checkpoints everywhere? The movement is happening through the highways, so it is impossible not to be able to catch them. Once the transport of these products is stopped, naturally the market will also come down”.
The problem of the forest reserve has been compounded with the extraction of the coal. No officials in administration and forest department are willing to comment. They say the matter have to be investigated.(SP News)
