Staff Reporter
CHANGLANG, 20 Nov: Concerned over the mushrooming of illegal saw/veneer mills and plywood industries, the Changlang district administration has decided to halt issuing of new licenses for use of band saw (with 18 inch saw blade) in the entire district, in order to protect the forests.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the district level licensing committee for wood-based industries, convened by Changlang DC Dr Devansh Yadav here recently.
Earlier, a report was also submitted by the Nampong forest division and the Changlang deputy director of industries, informing that around seven small-scale units (SSI) and band saw units were found to be functioning without complete documents, and were hence put under lock and key by the authorities.
The proprietors of these seven SSIs have been directed by the administration to obtain valid licenses within 30 days – between 10 November and 10 December – or face administrative action.
As per an official report, there are 16 saw/veneer/plywood mills operating in the entire district. Of the 16, 11 are in Nampong division and five are in Changlang division.
According to Jairampur ADC Ibom Tao, all the seven SSI units within Jairampur and Nampong divisions which have been temporarily closed by the administration cannot be permanently closed as they are not illegal.
“These SSI units have proper trading licenses issued by the department of industries. These units were temporarily closed because the proprietors have failed to provide complete documents as per the new guidelines, like pollution consent approval from APSPCB, papers related to shifting of units, Udyam registration certificate, functioning order from concerned DFO, etc. The administration has therefore given them a month’s time to submit these documents to the authorities, after which they can restart operations,” he informed.
The ADC stated that only the use of 18 inch band saw is banned as per the order of the principal chief conservator of forests “and no SSI units are using such band saws in the aforementioned divisions.”
“The administration has also decided to temporarily ban cutting of tops and lofts of live trees by vertical band saw mills. The supply of these tops and lofts shall also be routed through the high- power committee approved wood-based units and sawmills only,” he added.
Speaking about the mushrooming of illegal sawmills in Jairampur and Nampong divisions, the ADC informed that around two months back, the administration had closed down three illegal band saw units in the two divisions.
“These illegal units were not functioning earlier, but after the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted, these units tried to operate covertly but were soon found out by the forest department during a raid and were sealed immediately. Presently, there are no illegal saw units operating in the division,” he claimed.
