Satara forest dept seizes wood worth over 25 lakh

Kolhapur: The Vigilance Team of the Satara Forest Department has seized illegally transported teak and raiwal wood worth Rs5,27,872 in a series of coordinated raids across four locations in the district on Thursday.Acting on secret information received on Wednesday about large quantities of timber being illegally transported and stored without valid licences or permits, forest officials carried out operations in Umbraj village in Karad taluka and nearby areas.The raids were jointly conducted by the Range Forest Officer (Protection and Anti-Encroachment), Satara, along with his staff, and the Range Forest Officer, Karad (Territorial), and their team. The operations were carried out in the villages of Umbraj, Kalantrewadi, Mauje, Korti and Shivde. Range Forest Officer Ganesh Mahangade said, "A total of 1,283 wooden logs of teakwood and raiwal species, amounting to 98.449 cubic metres, were seized from four locations during the sudden raids. 61.275 cubic metres of firewood were also seized from Kalantrewadi and Shivde villages."