The report of illegal timber operation around the Lobi wildlife range in Itanagar is deeply worrying news. To make matter worse, the wild life officials were ambushed when they tried to arrest the people involved in the illegal activities. The green cover in the Capital Complex has been fading away over the years. Once, Itanagar and Naharlagun were covered with dense forest. Today, due to the rampant earth cutting and illegal timber operation, the greenery is fast vanishing. The capital district administration and the department of environment and forest have failed to stop the rampant feeling of trees.
While destruction of forests to some extent was expected in the expansion of the capital, the lost of forest cover has, however, been too fast and poses serious danger to the future of the Capital Complex. Growing pollution, along with gradual loss of forest poses serious health hazards to the denizens. The DA and forest department has a Herculean task ahead of them to arrest the fast declining forest cover.
To begin with, proper mapping of parks and wild life ranges should be done. There are two major parks in the Capital Complex, namely the Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar and the Polo Park in Naharlagun. The encroachment of these two parks should be strictly checked. The encroachment and illegal timber operation in protected forest lands should also be put to a complete halt.
In this particular case, the field staff of the Lobi Wildlife Range deserves appreciation for raiding the illegal timber operation. However, they should coordinate with the police department to avoid any untoward incident. More such operation should be conducted on regular basis to save the forest cover of the capital region.