DEHRADUN: A renewed outbreak of the sal borer has prompted an extensive control operation in the sal forests of Dehradun and Kalsi, where Uttarakhand forest officials say the pest could damage large numbers of trees if left unchecked.
The Forest Department said it had caught and destroyed about 3.96 lakh adult beetles so far. It has also formed a dedicated task force to monitor affected areas and review the response.
The insect, Hoplocerambyx spinicornis, is locally known as “Hoplo”. Its larvae bore into the trunks and heartwood of sal trees. Officials fear that an uncontrolled outbreak could spread to other sal forests and leave many trees so badly damaged that they may have to be felled.
Field teams are identifying affected trees, conducting regular inspections, using trap-tree operations and catching adult beetles. The department said the work was being carried out under the necessary permissions received from the Union government.
“We are carrying out the entire operation in accordance with the approved working plan, prescribed scientific protocols and technical advice from expert institutions,” said Rajiv Dhiman, Conservator of Forests, Shivalik.
The task force includes representatives of the Forest Department, the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation and the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute (FRI). It is reviewing field reports and advising on measures to contain the outbreak.
The department said sal borer outbreaks were not new to the region. Kalsi’s approved forest working plan records the pest from 1934-35 onwards and provides for scientific and silvicultural measures to control it.
Historical records also document outbreaks in the Dehradun region between 1916 and 1924, in Timli from 1958 to 1960, and in Thano in 1964 and 1965. Scientific literature records major outbreaks in other sal-growing areas, including Mandla and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, and Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon in present-day Chhattisgarh.
Those records show that the problem has recurred across sal forests, but officials say the immediate priority is to identify and contain the current infestation before it reaches unaffected areas.
The department is also preparing a research project with FRI to examine what triggered the present outbreak, which factors are influencing its spread and which measures could provide more effective long-term control.