Forest dept seeks PASA arrest

VADODARA, Oct 20: The Vadodara circle of the Forest department, covering the districts of Vadodara, Dahod and Panchmahals, has sought Dis...

VADODARA, Oct 20: The Vadodara circle of the Forest department, covering the districts of Vadodara, Dahod and Panchmahals, has sought District Collector Anil Mukim8217;s permission to arrest a notorious khair wood smuggler under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act. If it comes through, it will be the first such arrest in Central Gujarat.

The proposal comes after a sudden boom in the illegal trade of khair wood, which produces catechu, a substance used in paan masalas. While officials admit the smuggling has risen with the boom in the paan masala industry, figures hint at the enormity of the illegal trade: Khair wood seized in the first 10 months of 1999 in the Vadodara circle was valued at more than Rs 7 lakhs; the annual average so far was Rs 2 lakhs.

The forest department lays much of the blame in the sudden spurt in smuggling on one Sultan Ali, whom they now want detained under the PASA. A self-professed timber merchant, he has been arrested 60 times by the forest department on charges of felling and transporting teak and khair wood from reserved forest areas and private plantations, an official spokesman said.

However, he added, Ali has never been jailed; he has got off each time by paying heavy fines under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Incidentally, Ali is supposed to be responsible for Rs 5 lakh-worth of the khair wood seized so far this year; all of it was seized in the past three months. His modus operandi, forest department sources said, was simple: he8217;d store the illegally cut wood at various places in the Chhotaudepur taluka, subsequently collect it together at one spot and supply the wood to New Delhi, where most of the paan masala companies are located.

While State Forest Minister Kanjibhai Patel and top authorities flatly denied there was any organised timber smuggling in the State, senior forest circle officers said there were signs smugglers were shifting focus from Valsad to Savli, Waghodia, Dabhoi and Sankheda, all pockets of Vadodara district that grow khair trees on non-forest land.

Circle conservator Rajeeva, however, refused to be quoted on the subject, but said, 8220;We are trying our best to break the chain of illegal movement of khair. We8217;ve intensified our mobile patrolling after the seizures and are keeping a strict watch on points leading to the national highway and Dahod and Godhra.8221;