HAMREN: Following the incident wherein large-scale deforestation activities carried out inside the Amreng Forest area were captured on camera, several key officials visited the location and took stock of the situation and ensured proper action against the perpetrators.
The Amreng Forests in the West Karbi Anglong district of the state is a large area rich in a variety of forests and other natural resources. But in the past few months, it was noticed that a large number of people were engaged in illegal activities including the destruction of forest areas and carrying out sand and rock mining inside the forest area without information of the concerned authorities. They had also set up a stone quarry inside the forest without any license.
A special team from the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council visited the location and took stock of the situation. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Divisional Forest Officer, Secretary of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and several other officials visited the location and took stock of the development. They also took first-hand notes regarding the massive deforestation in the area along with the other illegal activities going on in the location.
It can be noted that the miscreants had earlier misbehaved and threatened to murder the journalists who had visited the location to find out what was actually going on in the locality.
Cutting of trees on a massive scale has been taking place in the Koka region of the Amreng Forest which comes under the Southern Range of Forest Department, Kheroni. Along with the large-scale deforestation, illegal mining of sand and stone is also being carried out in places which used to be under thick forest foliage, causing further damage to the environment.
According to the local people, the miscreants have been collecting valuable forest resources including high-value timber and other materials from the forest and these activities have intensified in the past two to three months leading to significant damage to the forest. The locals have accused the elected representatives from the Number 7 Kopili and Number 9 Amreng Constituencies of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council of supporting these miscreants in their actions towards the destruction of these forest areas.
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