Kerala govt. tacitly allowed felling of ancient rosewood trees in Wayanad: UDF
The Hindu
Opposition walks out of Assembly after Speaker denies permission for adjournment motion on the issue
The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) members walked out of the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday, accusing the State government of tacitly allowing “politically influential and well-connected timber thieves” to illegally harvest expensive and centuries-old rosewood trees from land assigned to farmers for agriculture in the forested Wayanad district. Moving an adjournment motion, Congress legislator P.T. Thomas said the Revenue Department had opened the door for illegal logging by issuing a dubious order in October last. The ruling allowed farmers to harvest trees they had grown on the assigned land. Mr. Thomas said the forest mafia had used the order as a convenient cover for felling aged hardwood trees. They did so with the connivance of local forest, revenue and police officials and had recruited “innocent” tribals as lumberjacks. The crime reported from South Muttil village was just the tip of the iceberg. The government had given cover to criminals to denude the forests of valuable timber.More Related News