Shillong, May 8: The controversial closure of saw mills and the mushrooming of “illegal” toll gates in and around Meghalaya have kicked up a storm in the corridors of the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. Two organisations, the Joint Action Committee of Commercial Organisations and the Meghalaya Land and Forest Owners Association, have set Thursday and Friday as deadlines for the government to redress the problems or face agitation.
The committee yesterday served a fresh ultimatum to the government, asking it to demolish all “illegal tollgates that have sprung up in all directions”.
The association has also sought the government’s intervention in reopening the saw mills, which it claimed had been closed down “arbitrarily”.
Jacco president A. Shanpru alleged that the district councils and local chiefs like the syiems had set up several tollgates in violation of court order.
The issue had snowballed into a major row recently, with truckers torching several tollgates along the Guwahati-Shillong National Highway and blocking traffic for over two days.
The other issue that threatens to catch the government on the wrong foot is the sudden closure of saw mills in Khasi hills. Several organisations and pressure groups have challenged the decision of the forest department and vowed to expose “a clandestine link” between top forest department officials and Shillong-based timber merchants.
The forest department had recently closed down the saw mills on the contention that they were operating in violation of the Supreme Court order on timber. However, it refused to comment on the alleged malpractices by timber merchants functioning from “designated approved operational sites” at Byrnihat and Barapani.
Sources said the closure of saw mills run by local residents in Khasi and Jaintia hills was a “direct result of the influence exerted by Shillong-based timber merchants” on forest department officials.
Most of the wood-based factories in Byrnihat and its adjoining areas are totally dependent on the low-cost timber coming from West Khasi Hills.
But these timber merchants from outside used to give the local residents only a meagre amount, thus forcing them to open their own mills, a senior forest department official said.
“The buying price from local residents would be as low as Rs 20 per cubic foot (cft), whereas the selling price in Guwahati and outside would be around Rs 250 per cft,” he added.
“Why was the forest department silent when some factories were openly buying timber from local residents at exorbitant prices? But when the latter decided to start on their own, it was termed as a violation. Why this partisan attitude?” a local resident of West Khasi Hills asked.
The forest department’s action has raised many eyebrows. Local residents and various organisations said the Supreme Court order on timber-felling notwithstanding, logging had been rampant in most parts of West Khasi Hills under the very nose of the forest department for the past two years or more.
Some organisations have even threatened to expose the alleged “racket” between some forest officials and timber merchants. There are others who are contemplating moving court against the department.