Trees being ‘killed’ on Idukki cardamom estates

Owner, workers of a plantation at Thondimala arrested for injecting chemicals into trees to destroy them

When the huge trees in a cardamom plantation at Thondimala, near Poopara, close to the ecologically sensitive Mathikettan shola began to dry up last week, the officials of the Forest Department took note.

A close scrutiny found that small holes were drilled on the tree trunks and filled with chemicals. For trying to chemically kill trees, a case was filed against the estate owner and workers, leading to their arrest.

The Forest Department officials are now trying hard to revive at least a few of the trees by pumping water. An official of the Forest Department at Mathikettan shola told The Hindu on Friday that the estate owner tried to destroy the trees since he was under the impression that cardamom plants were decaying because of lack of sunlight in the area.

Misconception

He confessed that the hole in the trees were filled with glycel in a bid to destroy them.

Nearly two years ago, tree branches were cut in the cardamom plantation in Nedumkandam and Kumily since it was thought that better sunlight would result in increased production. The large tree cover in the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) was lost and plantations sported green nets to prevent sunlight from directly falling on the plants.

A senior official of the Forest Department said the trees were chemically destroyed with the aim of selling the timber and reducing the sunshade there. Farmers drying up trees in cardamom plantations at Nedumkandam and Kumily were reported a few years ago.

Stipulations

In CHR, the rights over trees are vested with the Forest Department and that over land, with the Revenue Department. The permission of the Forest Department is required even for cutting tree branches.

Dual ownership

Only the dead trees are allowed to be sold in the CHR. Sometimes the trees are also felled citing permission from the Revenue Department to cut its branches. The dual ownership in the CHR often creates confusion and makes it difficult to take timely action, he added.

When prices rise, farmers engage in unscrupulous methods to increase production. The incident at Mathikettan shola is a pointer in this direction, he said. However, the large scale loss of green cover would only result in the plants drying up as it needed shade for natural growth.