BELONIA, April 16 (TIWN): Timber smuggling along the international bordering areas at Belonia Amzadnagar area has rampant with the concerned authorities comprising of forest rangers, police and other security forces allegedly making a hefty profitable business endorsing the smugglers every day.There has been report of large scale timber smuggling from Belonia Amzadnagar to Bangladesh markets with the smugglers using the Muhuri River the gateway to the smugglings. Fear of these timber smugglers, who were engaged in transborder operations, was all-pervasive. At least two markets, located in Bangladesh named as Poshuram market and Majumder haat, on the edge of the border, thrived on smuggled timber from Tripura.Timber is smuggled openly to Bangladesh market with the smugglers using the Mohuri River and allegedly managing the forest guards and other concerned authorities. This heavy smuggling not only is an open loot of green gold but has also given birth to other environment hazards like deforestation, soil erosion and loss of habitat for wild animals at Belonia Amzadnagar, a muslim dominated village that pushes the wild creatures to move towards human population leading to serious issue of man-animal conflict.

Sometimes the insurgents are involved while at other times the forest guards. But mostly it is poachers, aided by people on both sides of a totally porous border.

In recent years, timber smuggling has alarmingly increased in Belonia Amzadnagar area. The smugglers have been found adopting new strategy for timber smuggling. The smugglers have targeted the concerned border side of the district where maximum parts remained unfenced yet today, where the administration and security bodies gives less concern and are getting easily managed by the smugglers in exchange of hefty profit for the authorities.

Local people have also accused employees of the District Forest Office of being involved in timber smuggling and not taking any initiatives to curb the illegal act. They claimed illegal timber supply flourished after forest guards and other concerned authorities of range posts established at the border points in the district started taking a hefty amount from the smugglers.

However, but smuggling is not considered illegal in border areas. It is just another source of livelihood. It has become such a socially acceptable practice that all our state’s efforts to address it as a law and order problem have failed.