More than five lakh quintals of pine resin (leesa) has been lying dumped at the Government depots in various locations for about three years now.
The highly inflammable substance has become a sensitive stock for the officials with department staff spraying water on the pine resin containers regularly to prevent risk of the volatile substance catching fire during the hot days being experienced in the region.
At the Sultannagri forest depot in Haldwani town, the large quantity of pine resin has been kept in store for about three years now. The resin tapped from pine trees in the mountainous regions is a highly inflammable substance with various commercial uses. The resin extracted from pine trees is used in the paint industry, for use in varnish, turpentine oil and phenyl. The department staff at the depot are busy these days spraying water on the pine resin containers in order to mitigate any risk of the highly inflammable resin catching fire in these days of rising mercury level.
The staff have been spraying water on the containers during hot days for about three years now. According to sources, about 1.5 lakh quintal pine resin has been lying dumped at this resin depot in Haldwani. Apart from this, more than four lakh quintal of pine resin is stated to be lying in the departmental depots at Rishikesh, Kotdwar and Tanakpur.
The sale of this pine resine is reportedly being hampered by governmental policies. However, observers opine that the reason for the the collected resin lying dumped in the depots is related to the activity of the illegal elements in the pine resin trade. Those who clandestinely extract resin from the pine trees in the forests offer their harvest at half the rate of the government floor rate of `6,000 per quintal.
The illegal elements in the trade are reported to be supplying the resin at the doors of the industrial enterprises for half the government floor rate. Further, in an effort to conceal the theft of pine resin, such unscrupulous elements are also known to set fires in the pine forests.
This is also stated by some to be a major reason for rise in forest fires in the state during the past three years. The conservator of forests, Kumaon, Rajendra Singh states that a letter has been sent to the state administration regarding the dumped resin and soon process will be started for auctioning the stock under the new