Deep inside Kanasar forest, felled Deodars and a vow of secrecy

The Kanasar woods are lovely, dark and deep

- Amit Bathla

For decades, the forests in the Chakrata division have been home to the finest deodar trees; by some estimations, among the best in Asia. High up in the Himalayas, its valleys framed by two rivers, the inaccessibility lent itself to what was hitherto believed to be untouched green slopes, protected by the tribes that live in them.

Except, it turns out, the woods mask a secret that is only just beginning to peek out from under the dense foliage. A roaring illegal timber business; and a traditional tribal oath of silence that has been twisted into a system of complicity.

For 12 days between August 6 and 17, acting on a rare tip-off, the Uttarakhand forest department launched a search-and-seizure operation in the Kanasar range, and found 4,000 Deodar and Kail logs in two villages in the Jaunsar-Bawar region. The recoveries reeked of an organised operation, aided by both residents and the local government machinery. The illegally felled timber was found in two government schools, a panchayat building, a public water tank, some even buried.

The recoveries have worried the state forest department, for this is the second such discovery of widespread timber felling discovered in the last 12 months. In October last year, officials said that over 6,000 trees were felled illegally in the proposed Pakhro tiger safari in the Corbett Tiger Reserve over an area of 16.21 hectares, based on a report by the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun and field visits.

In the Kanasar forests though, there is another impediment to administrative action -- a veil of secrecy.

The Jaunsaris