West Bengal cracks down on illegal saw mills, closures begin across districts

West Bengal Forest Minister Manoj Oraon has instructed officials to close all illegally run saw mills across the districts of Bengal.

On Sunday, a wood mill owned by Sofiar Rahman at Chankia More was closed following the instructions of the DFO, North 24 Parganas district, people in the know told ET.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has recently asked the Forest Department to take steps to stop illegal logging and timber smuggling.


The wood mill was located in Amdanga in North 24 Parganas, and had been operating illegally since the Trinamool government's regime, sources in the Forest Department said.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, three illegal and eight authorised (licence cancelled) saw mills were closed.

Five authorised saw mills were closed due to cancelled licences, while one unauthorised saw mill was closed under the North 24 Parganas North Division.

"Authorised saw mills were closed due to failure to renew their licences in due time and, despite several notices being served, the owners failed to respond within the stipulated time limit for renewal," Forest Department sources said.

Similar efforts are being made to close illegally operating saw mills in other districts, sources said.

He also directed officers to begin the process of filling vacant posts and stressed the need for large-scale afforestation to protect the environment.

The CM had said that the state must improve the functioning of the department, address man-animal conflict in the southwestern districts and push tree-planting drives across West Bengal. Adhikari also called on MLAs to plant one lakh saplings each in their constituencies as part of a wider effort to increase green cover.