A large number of trees, including precious teak and sal, were uprooted in Koraput district due to cyclone Hudhud, which ripped through the
region on October 12.
A preliminary assessment report said the district lost over 5,000 sal, teak, eucalyptus and chakunda varieties of trees in the Gupteswar, Boipariguda, Semiliguda and Narayanpatna Forest Ranges.
Roadside trees and those on school and office premises also bore the brunt of the cyclone.
Forest officials said Ramagiri under the Gupteswar Forest Range was the worst-hit as decade-old sal and teak trees came crashing down with strong winds blowing at 90 to 100 kmph. Around 629 trees were uprooted in the forest range. Preliminary assessment puts the loss at Rs1 crore, according to Divisional Forest Officer (Jeypore) Bijay Kumar Acharya.
While Pottangi and Nandapur lost over 1,500 trees, around 500 trees were uprooted in forests of the Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon areas. Eucalyptus trees were damaged at Pottangi and Nandapur while valuable teak and sal were lost in Narayanpatna, said a forest officer.
The Forest Department now has a daunting task of removing the fallen trees. “At several places, villagers are cutting the trees and taking the logs home. Timber mafias are also eyeing the uprooted sal and teak trees. We are not able to restrict the villagers because of staff shortage. Efforts are on to remove the uprooted trees from forest areas at the earliest,” Acharya said.
Patrolling parties have been formed to guard the trees, he added.