KOZHIKODE: The state forest and wildlife department’s ongoing probe into the felling of reserved trees on assigned land has found that trees were cut from all the districts except Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kozhikode, and Kannur.
The investigation has revealed that as of Saturday 1,404 trees were felled from seven districts. The number trees cut in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Idukki is yet to be known.
Sources said, trees felling might have also taken place in Palakkad, but the figures are yet to be assessed. The probe has found tree felling was rampant in Ernakulam (600), followed by Thrissur (579). A forest official said 500 cubic metres of teak was cut alone in Ernakulam.
“A majority of the tree was felled in Neriyamangalam range and the rest in Thattekkadu,” he said. All the trees felled in Ernakulam are teak. All the trees were cut from the land allotted for title deeds (pattayam) based on the controversial order issued by the revenue principal secretary on October 24, 2020.
Not in tree registry
Though trees were felled in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta, none of them were included in the tree registry.
“We did not find any of the cut trees in the tree registry kept at village office concerned. This means the trees felled were not reserved under the state. Either officials concerned might have missed adding them to the registry or they might have grown of late. However, cutting such trees is a violation of the pattaya land criteria,” an officer said.
All the trees felled in Kasaragod, Wayanad, and Malappuram have been recovered, officials said. However, only 135 cubic metres could be recovered in Thrissur.
Districts where trees were axed
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kasaragod
Number of trees cut
Ernakulam 600
Thrissur 579
Wayanad 161
Kottayam 27
Kasaragod 22
Malappuram 13
Pathanamthitta 2