Morung Express News
Dimapur| August 8
Four officials from the Nagaland Forest department are in Delhi to keep an eye on the investigation being carried out by Custom officials at Nangloi, on the seized timber at Guwahati rail station last month. Department sources informed that the officials have been in Delhi since Friday and meeting the ‘necessary people.’ Sources said that ‘nothing to suggest that the timber is smuggled has been established so far.’ The Guwahati Custom officials are carrying out the investigation. Delhi Customs who should be assisting in the investigation has not yet turned up, sources informed.
Five wagons have so far been offloaded and timber is being segregated into different categories for verification. The seals of some wagons have also been broken. Sources said that it might take a long time for the Customs to finish segregating the timber from all the wagons. A total of 42 wagons have been seized.
Nagaland Forest officials are also reportedly in touch with the special investigation team (SIT). Sources have added that the customs appear to be ‘in a confused state and don’t know how to proceed with the investigation.’ There is no means of establishing claims that the timber is of ‘foreign origin’, sources added.
Following the seizure of wagons loaded with timber on July 8 last, there were allegations that the logs were illegally being shipped from Myanmar, Kamjong and Moreh to Dimapur, which are transported to feed India’s timber industry. There were also reports of suspicion because the SIT kept insisting that the seized consignment should be checked in New Delhi and not in Guwahati. The episode has brought much embarrassment to Nagaland Forest department, who also clarified that, the consignment is genuine local produce, transported under the strict guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India. Consequently, Nagaland government constituted a four-member committee to look into the matter of seized timber.
The Supreme Court banned timber felling in 1996. Two years later in the TN Godavaran case, the apex court passed another judgment allowing already felled timber to be transported only by the Railways under strict supervision and guidelines. To do so, the apex court ordered setting up of a High Powered Committee (HPC) and SIT for supervision of the transportation and overseeing forest protection in the region. The court also ordered setting up of satellite cell of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, also known as the Office of Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF), in Shillong.
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