Felling has begun in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori forest division after permission was granted to cut nearly 150,000 sal borer-affected trees.
Officials said about 2,000 trees have been felled so far, with the Forest Department planning to complete the operation by March next year.
Retired PCCF Ram Prasad has questioned the basis of the decision, saying experts and stakeholders should have been consulted before permission was granted.
He said the infestation should be studied as an ecosystem issue, including forest structure, fires, overgrazing, soil erosion and declining natural regeneration.
Felling has begun in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori forest division after permission was granted to cut nearly 150,000 sal trees affected by the sal borer insect.
Bharti Thackeray, Divisional Forest Officer, Production, told Down To Earth (DTE) that about 2,000 trees had been felled so far out of the approximately 146,000 sal borer-affected trees identified for felling. She said fewer trees had been cut so far because of rain.
“We have planned to complete the felling of sal borer-affected trees by March next year,” Thackeray said.She added that a temporary depot had been set up near Gadharsai for the felled trees.
Ram Prasad, a retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Madhya Pradesh and former director of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, has questioned the decision to fell the trees.
In the 1990s, Prasad had refused to sign a central government committee report that recommended the felling of sal borer-affected trees.
He told DTE that the most important question was the basis on which the current decision had been taken. The government has authorised the felling of a large number of trees, he said, but there appears to have been inadequate consultation.
He said that when teams were formed earlier to examine the issue, experts and stakeholders were consulted. A similar team should have been formed this time, and an independent assessment should have been carried out before permission was granted, he added.
According to Prasad, the fact that an official has the power to take a decision does not mean the matter should be decided only at that level.
Experts and stakeholders should also be consulted, he said. The situation should first be understood and investigated, and only then should a decision be taken on whether trees need to be felled.
If a decision has been taken to fell the trees, Prasad said, it should be clear who conducted the independent assessment, who visited the site, what they observed and what the findings were.
It is not enough to say that an investigation was carried out, he said. The process and findings should be made public.
Prasad said another important question was why such a large sal borer infestation had occurred in a particular area.
If the infestation is severe in one forest patch but less intense in surrounding areas, the reasons should be studied, he said.
“What changes have taken place? What are the differences in forest structure? Why is the infestation concentrated in a particular area?” he asked.
Prasad said these questions need to be answered before large-scale felling is carried out.
He argued that the issue should not be seen only in terms of economic loss. Cutting and selling trees may generate revenue, he said, but the value of a forest is not limited to the price of timber.
If the Forest Department says affected trees are being removed to save other trees, it may be presented as a clearing operation, he said. But from an ecosystem perspective, the situation is more complex.
Prasad said sal forests develop in layers, with three to five distinct levels of vegetation. Smaller plants and shrubs grow at the bottom, followed by smaller trees and then larger trees.
But in the affected area, he said, larger trees are standing while the lower layers of vegetation are almost clear.
He said frequent fires and overgrazing were among the reasons for this.
Not enough has been done to address these problems, he said. When a forest ecosystem is repeatedly affected from the bottom up, its ability to absorb water and retain soil declines. This contributes to soil erosion, he added.
“What preventive measures have we taken? If the problem was recognised early, what steps were taken to prevent it? Simply cutting trees after the outbreak has escalated is not the solution,” he said.
Prasad said the decline in natural regeneration also needs to be examined. Smaller plants that once grew on the forest floor and helped retain water are disappearing, weakening the ecosystem.
He said the ecosystem had been weakened by management priorities, raising questions over forest management strategies.
It is important to examine what the Forest Department has done to conserve soil and water, and what preventive and conservation measures are being implemented, especially in areas where sal borer infestations occur frequently, he said.
According to Prasad, carrying out work on small patches elsewhere will not solve the problem. Special attention is needed in areas where the infestation is recurring.
He said the forest was gradually turning into an almost pure sal forest. A sal forest usually contains several other species, but their numbers have declined over time. This change, too, needs to be investigated, he added.