Ayun residents warn govt over forest royalty

CHITRAL, May 26, 2011: The residents of Ayun here warned the government that in case of any further delay in payment of forest royalty to them by the harvesting contractors, they will block the road to stop timber transportation from Chitral to Chakdara depot.

In a meeting held here, the villagers expressed their anguish over the inordinate delay in the clearance of royalty allegedly by the contractors Mohammad Khan and Shahzada Parvez.

They said according to rules, the contractors of Forest Development Corporation should readily pay the royalty to the locals after marking of the forest of Gol, Bumburate, for harvesting.

The villagers said the contractors had transported millions of cubic feet of timber from the area, but they were still hesitant to pay the locals their due right as given in the Gazette Notification of 1975.

They also alleged that the contractors had indulged in excessive cutting of forests beyond the marking limits and said that flash flood in the area last year were mainly due to the denuding forests. They asked the provincial government to stop the merciless cutting of trees.--Zahiruddin



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