Plywood-making units in Dimapur ‘reprimanded’

Dimapur, Feb. 19 (EMN): Three plywood production units in Dimapur namely Changki Valley Forest Products at Tenyiphe, M/s Angami Ply at Tenyiphe, and Akash Wood Products at 7^th Mile were ‘reprimanded’ on Wednesday by a team of forest officials led by Lhoubeilatuo Kire, additional chief secretary to chief minister and Environment, Forests and Climate Change, during a check on the units.

A press release was received here on Wednesday concerning the inspection.

‘In a stepped up effort to combat illegal timber business and smuggling, a special drive is being conducted to inspect and verify stocks in all wood-based industries in the state,’ the press release stated.

According to the press release, ‘Stock verification of Changki Valley Forest Products, Tenyiphe; M/s Angami Ply, Tenyiphe; and Akash Wood Products, 7^th Mile showed anomalies which did not match with the actual number of logs in the plywood premises.’

Kire directed that a notice be issued immediately to all the three units under the Nagaland Forest Act of 1968 and Tree Felling Regulation of 2017 for legal action against the ‘erring units,’ the press release stated.

The official said that the department won’t hesitate to take the extreme step of suspension or revoking of licenses,’ the note stated. He was stated to have instructed Forest officials to complete inspection of all the HPC Cleared Units and non-HPC units within the next few days, the press release stated.