BALASORE: Illegal sawmills operating without licence have mushroomed across the district and the authorities seem oblivious to the menace.
A few years ago, the Forest and Environment department had carried out surprise raids and sealed several such sawmills in Bhograi and Baliapal blocks. But it did not yield the desired result.
The banks of Subarnarekha river, areas along the Bay and Bengal and forests in the district were once replete with trees of several varieties such as mango, Indian blackberry, jackfruit, casuarina and neem.
However, the rich forest cover of the district is on the verge of becoming history due to relentless felling of trees by timber mafia.
Sudarshan Das, a social activist from Jaleswar, said timber mafia has become emboldened by the absence of action by authorities concerned. Their utter disregard for law is evident from the fact that several truckloads of wooden logs are transported from the district to neighbouring West Bengal.
The timber mafia use the second bridge on Subarnarekha river to smuggle wood from the district. It is alleged that inaction of officials concerned is leading to depletion of forest cover and valuable trees such as acacia, sal, sheesham, eucalyptus and casuarina.
Balasore DFO Biswaraj Panda said 10 sawmills have permission to operate in the district. They are functioning from Samnathpur and Bamapada.
He said the matter will be raised before the Collector and it will also be ascertained how the sawmills were able to get electricity supply.