Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Assam MLA Raju Mesh brought reports of massive illegal logging to the Legislative Assembly this week. He claims timber smugglers from Meghalaya are stripping forests bare in the disputed Lampi area. Trees are vanishing.
Mesh received a tip on July 2 from Lampi village headman Krishna Chetry. Trucks with Meghalaya plates are hauling away stolen timber. The MLA visited the site on July 3 with local officials, including Co-District Commissioner Priyanshu Bharadwaj. They caught people actively felling trees and moving lumber across the border.
Authorities have stayed idle. Mesh told the House the local police officer in charge admitted the smuggling has gone on for years, blaming a lack of patrol vehicles for the failure to stop it. Mesh wants the Forest Minister to step in and secure the region.
Residents are fed up. They complain that sal and teak trees continue to fall while forest officials look the other way. Local people want the government to treat the smugglers as common criminals, noting that those destroying the land "cannot belong to any state."
Beyond the forest crisis, Lampi residents face a lack of basic services. Mesh urged the Assam government to grant land documents to locals. He also demanded better roads, reliable bus service, and telecom towers to provide mobile connectivity.
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