Valuable trees cut down in Mankyal Kalam for road project

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department has cut down 140 valuable trees worth Rs70 million for the construction of the 23-kilometer-long Mankyal-Bada Sarai Road.

According to official documents available with HUM News English, the provincial government has already approved the construction of the Mankyal-Bada Sarai Road in the Kalam Valley under the KP Integrated Tourism Development Project (KITE).

The construction machinery has been deployed at the site of the 23-km Mankyal-Bada Sarai Road, which will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs5.7 billion.

On January 17, 2023, the provincial cabinet conditionally approved the removal of these trees and directed the forest department to follow the relevant SOPs.

Later, the KP Forest and Environment Department sent a letter on January 27, 2023, to the chief conservator of forests, region one, referencing the cabinet’s decision and the removal of the 140 trees, including the equal distribution of revenue from their sale.

Recently, the KP Forest Department has cut these trees for the road construction. Forest department officials in Malakand, Swat, and Kalam confirmed that the trees were removed with the cabinet’s approval and government permission.

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They stated that most of the felled trees have been auctioned, while the remaining trees could not be moved to the forest depot for auction due to a provincial government ban on wood transportation. The value of these cut trees is estimated to be Rs60 to Rs70 million.

According to an official estimate, a total of 450 trees will be affected by the construction of Mankyal-Bada Sarai Road. Of these, 333 are timber trees, 92 are firewood trees, and 25 are fruit trees.

Locals said that the provincial government and the forest department have already failed to control illegal logging in Swat, Kalam, Dir, and other parts of the district, contrary to their claims of protecting forests, this felling of trees will have negative bearing on environment and the beauty of the picturesque region.

Critics argue that despite the PTI-led provincial government’s promises to safeguard forests, they have not implemented a transparent monitoring system to prevent the illegal felling of valuable trees.

Reports suggested that trees are being cut down in the region illegally during the night.

In March, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced plans to increase forest cover in the province by launching the ‘Billion Tree Plus’ project. However, the project could not be launched despite a lapse of almost three months.