Karwar: A marvel in the wilderness

Express News

Karwar, 02 May 2010: The 143-year-old teakwood plantation raised by the British in 1867 at Kadra doesn’t yet fail to marvel.

The plantation stands intact without being plundered by forest looters. The Forest Department too did not carry out sustained extraction of teakwood from the plantation. Until 2006, a few trees were allowed to be felled to build a temple ‘Dhwaja Sthambha’ (temple flag mast).

However, such cases were very few, says Mohan Kangil, Assistant Conservator of Forests of Karwar forest division.

Since 2006, all such requests by the temple managements have been rejected, Kangil says.

Money is not a concern for the department, explains Kangil.

“By selling trees, the department might get a few crores of rupees and that is all. But one has to wait for next 140 years to create such a plantation,” he observes.

The department is keen to prepare a database of the plantation. Kangil adds that each tree will be marked with paint and protected with barbed fencing.