Crores lost in timber protests

The forest department has been losing crores of rupees in sales proceeds for the past 15 days as dwellers in fringe villages with support from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have stopped the movement of timber from 13 depots across the region.

Roshan Giri, the Morcha secretary, said timber felled in the Darjeeling hills was the property of the people there and that “there should be a moratorium (temporary stay) on felling for 10 years”. Among the closed depots, only two, Kodalbusty and Taipu, are located in the plains.

Members of the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers, which is also backing the protesters, said the agitation was against the non-implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006.

“We want the forest department to follow the legislation by introducing the sharing of revenues. The refusal to part with the sales proceeds of timber has prompted dwellers to close the depots,” said Shibo Sunuwar, the north Bengal convener of the Forum.

There are 34 government timber depots across Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts. Among these, four in Kurseong (Seventh Mile, Bamanpokhri, Gulma and Taipu), six in Kalimpong (Bhuttabari, Samsing, Mongpong, Kumani, Odlabari and Tarkhola), two in Darjeeling (Sixth Mile and Gaddikhan) and one in Cooch Behar (Kodalbusty) have been shut for the past 15 days.

“We plan to close down the Chilapata depot, also under Cooch Behar division, tomorrow,” a member of the Forum said. By June, the protesters hope to close down depots under Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri and four in Darjeeling division.

The closure of the depots has severely affected revenue collection. “Our main revenue comes from the sale of timber,” S.B. Mondal, the managing director of the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC) said over phone from Calcutta today.

“In Kurseong alone, at least 2,000 cubic metres of timber worth around Rs 5 crore is waiting to be auctioned. Also, logs of around 350-400 cubic metres and worth nearly a crore, which were auctioned earlier, are still with us. Timber merchants who had paid a part of the money after the auction could not take away their purchase. The condition is almost the same in other divisions,” Mondol added.

The forest department fears that the monsoon will bring more losses. “There are some not-so-high-quality timber that has to be auctioned off before the rains or else we will not get even half the prices,” he said.

Mondol accused a section of forest dwellers of cashing in on the current political turmoil in the hills — the Morcha has in recent times revived the movement for Gorkhaland — to make some quick money.

Although Sunuwar has denied the Morcha role in the forest agitation, Giri claimed otherwise: “We have stopped transport of timber from some of the depots because trees felled in the hills belong to the people there.”

S.B. Patel, the chief conservator of forests (north Bengal), said his department was ready to forward the demands to the government. “But they should participate in talks and not resort to closure of the depots,” said Patel.