Trains helping in illegal log transportation

UDALGURI, July 10 ? At a time, when the State Police department has been observing ?Operation Green Earth Project? throughout the State with the help of other government and non-governmental social and nature organisations, conscious citizens of Udalguri area expected that the illegal felling of valuable logs by antisocial elements would come to a (temporary) end, but ignoring all such government efforts to check the deforestration process, the felling of valuable trees in and around Indo-Bhutan foothills and Assam - Arunachal foothills has been going on unabated and it is feared that the whole region would become denuded in the near future. In a recent investigation it was found that most of the valuable logs and woods-sawn in different shapes and sizes are being transported to particular spots by antisocial elements via passenger and express mail railway trains in between Rangapara - Rangia junctions. The groups involved in this illegal business are active from Rangapara to Goreswar and they have their spots at Belsiri, Hugrajuli, Mazbat, Rowta, Udalguri, Harisinga and Tangla where they stop the passenger and mail express trains at the secluded lonely spots near the railway bridges by way of opening the vacuums of the compartments and load the compartments with valuable logs and log pieces in the presence of train-guards, security personnel and train-ticket-examiners! When asked, a TTE told this correspondent that indeed the railway has been helping those anti-socials by not deploying adequate number of Railway Police Task Force in Rangia-Rangapara railway service-route. The railway employees like train guards and train-ticket examiners remain helpless when such illegal stopping of trains elsewhere on the way and illegal and unabated loading of trains is going on and in this way. The NF Railway has been inspiring the anti-socials to carry on their business, he added. It is to be noted that the Railway Police Task Force once conducted sudden raids in the trains between Rangapara - Rangia junctions at Hugrajuli and Mazbat railway stations and was able to unearth a huge number of logs which were seized. The sudden raid brought a temporary catastrophe to the process but it was for the time being and now the NF Railways authorities seem to be silent in this important and serious matter. It is felt by public that if the concerned authority of railway does not take a long-term initiative to check it, the deforestration process would become fast and the Railway department would be held responsible for it.