Illegal timber transactions are increasing in Paro. Some six people were caught while trying to transport timber illegally.
Following a tip-off, the forestry officials of Paro impounded a DCM loaded with 200 cft of timber. The DCM was headed to Thimphu.
The forestry officials had also confiscated some 700 cft of illegally felled timber, a few days earlier.
The officials from the Divisional Forest Office say the miscreants try to smuggle timber through numerous ways. “During winter season, smugglers cover the timber with rice stalks. Some keep potato sacks on top of the timber,” said one of the officials.
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He said the illegal activities takes place during night time and public holidays.
The officials also said they are trying to clamp down illegal timber transactions. However they say less manpower in their department makes manning huge forest cover an arduous task.
The divisional office has 13 staff looking after six of the 10 gewogs in Paro Dzongkhag. “We deploy just about two people in the field,” said the official.
The office auctions the illegal timber at the government rates while the miscreants are levied penalty.
