Illegal Trade of Sand & Stone still on Despite Crackdown, says Parimal Suklabaidya

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Despite continuous crackdown by the Forest department, the illegal trade of sand and stone is still continuing in the State.

The above was candid admission by none other than State Forest & Environment minister Parimal Suklabaidya.

Suklabaidya told The Sentinel on Thursday that even though the illegal transportation of sand & stone has been controlled and checked to a large extent, the reports of occurrence of such incidents are pouring every day. He said the demand of sand and stone is very high since both materials are essential for all kinds of construction activities.

“High demand is probably one of prime reasons behind the illegal trade. But we are leaving no stone unturned to check such trade. Seizure of trucks illegally carrying sand and stone almost on daily basis is evident of our effort. I personally pursued many incidents resulted in seizure of trucks,” Suklabaidya said.

Admitting that the illegal trade of sand & stone cannot run or flourish without involvement of a section of forest department officials, the Minister sought public cooperation to root out such trade. He said it is not possible for the forest and police officials to go after each and every truck illegally carrying such materials. “Let the people inform the forest department or police about such incidents. If actions are not taken by the concerned departments on the basis of public complaints or information, I will take a call,” Suklabaidya said.

On the issue of increasing man-elephant conflicts in the State, Suklabaidya said it is not an easy task to prevent such incidents immediately. He said human settlements in many forest lands were once feeding grounds for jumbos. “So elephants come to these areas in search of foods. When the animals do not find foods, they destroy human habitats and attack people. It is a big challenge for the forest department as elephants from neighboring Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh come to these places of human habitation,” he said.

Suklabaidya said taming one or two rouge elephants will not eliminate the conflict unless there is an effort to go to the root of problem and find solution.

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