Old trees face the axe

habra: century-old trees are being felled ruthlessly along either side of jessore road along the national highway 34 leading to bongaon. the trees are poisoned and then axed down for sale in the local market. according to a source in the divisional forest office, about 450 such large trees are lined up along both sides of the jessore road. locals say few of these trees were planted during the reign of emperor jahangir.when subedars and other high officials of the mughal empire travelled towards bangladesh, these trees were planted to provide shade on jessore road. but currently, the mighty brigade of sal, neem, shirish and mahogany is thinning out in the seven-kilometre stretch between jaleswar more and gopalpur. locals allege that some local youths are engaged in illegal tree felling. gour, a shop owner in habra, said, i have seen youths sprinkling a liquid around the trees. after three to four weeks, leaves began to fall off the trees rapidly so much so that soon they became bare. another said that the cutters use copper sulphate and hot tea leaves, to kill the trees. after the tree dies, they chop off the branches and the trunk. the timber is used as fuel by the locals. the log obtained is sold to the saw mills mushrooming all over the place. these mills, locals claim, are illegal. the racket is operated by groups comprising three to four persons. a person spotted sawing logs just before the habra station said that he does not find anything illegal as the trees are all bought for a price. a middleman in timber business explained that this was an act of social service as the wood obtained in such process was comparatively cheaper. people associated with nearby saw mills said that they buy the wood for about rs 400 per cubic feet. nadi o paribesh unnayan samity regularly campaigns against tree felling. a member of the organisation said that due to indifferent attitude of the administration, illegal chopping of trees is assuming alarming proportions. they also blamed the habra police for taking no action in spite of repeated complaints. when kuldip singh was the police superintendent, some actions were taken. but, the effort petered out with time said a member. pollution control board has also shut their eyes. as a result, trees worth several crores are vanishing, said an angry resident, sukumar das. as a result our environment is suffering and so are we, he added. the district forest officer when contacted earlier said that strict vigilance had been maintained in the area and there is no such problem now. the police, however, passed the buck to local bodies.according to an official of the police station, it was the duty of the panchayats to inform them and lodge a case of theft. it is only after that the police can do any thing. however, the official could not explain why the complaints of the environment protection club was not looked into.