Relief for traders, GB govt lifts ban on transportation of chopped timber
Our Correspondent
Gilgit, June 20: In a landmark decision the GB government has decided to allow transportation and trade of up to 4 million cubic feet of timber chopped legally and illegally by the residents of timber-rich Diamer district.
According to details the GB cabinet Friday decided to allow selling of legally chopped timber across Pakistan. The illegally cut timber can only be sold within the limits of GB, cabinet members told media after a specially convened meeting.
The government had imposed a ban on transportation and trade of legally or illegally chopped timber. The ban had affected thousands of people involved in the timber trade. Hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of timber were laying scattered across the length and breadth of Diamer for years.
Lifting of the ban will result in flow of more cash in the Diamer District, benefiting the economy and creating opportunities for progress.
In many aspects of this decision will be beneficial in short term for the locals but when one see this decision from environmental perspective this very harmful in long run. in-spite of lifting ban on wood cutting gov should give alternate economic opportunities so that our forest can be saved.
This is a wise decision as i suppose people have had their part of lesson over decade, not to rely on one source of income.So probably they will make their way to alternative investment from these proceeds. Imposing ban has deteriorated forest condition by illegal means of cutting and transporting resulting in absolute loss for Government and Local people.