ROURKELA: Thousands of trees over 10 acre of land have been illegally felled in Kastuna revenue forest near Tileimal under Bargaon range of Sundargarh division.
The incident came to light on Monday after villagers complained about the illegal act to the local forest officials. Sources said the forest patch where the trees were felled now wears a barren look. The patch is located close to state highway-10.
Locals alleged that the motive behind illegal felling of the trees is to grab forest land. Villager Bholanath Bag claimed more than 100 full-grown old forest trees and over 5,000 small trees, which had grown naturally and come up under plantation programme, were removed to cause irreparable damage to the local forest eco-system.
Another villager Prakash Kiro claimed the trees were felled over a period of time to grab uninhabited government land.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Sundargarh Pradeep Mirase said after receiving the complaint, the Bargaon forest range officer and others were sent to the site for verification. Preliminary investigation revealed that trees were felled illegally. A case has been booked under the Odisha Forest Act and enumeration of the felled trees is underway.
The Bargaon tehsildar has also been informed to take appropriate action including filing of encroachment cases, the DFO added.