SURI, 29 FEB: In a major crackdown on illegal sawmills in the district, officials of the forest department have sealed at least 75 establishments in the past five days. Forest department officials claimed that the move will help protect forests in the Birbhum and Jharkhand border areas. The state government asked district forest officers (DFOs) to close down illegal sawmills running in the districts following a Supreme Court order. Accordingly, a team, led by the Birbhum DFO, was set up six days ago to conduct raids on illegal sawmills. There are only 95 saw mills in the district that have the required permission from concerned authorities. The sawmill owners require licence of the forest department and a no-objection-certificate (NOC) from the environment department to run the sawmills. In a recent survey conducted by the district forest department, it was found that nearly 170 sawmills have been running without required permission. "But we suspect that the number of illegal sawmills may cross 220 in the district. The illegal sawmills are situated mainly in the border area of Birbhum and Jharkhand ~ Nalhati, Mohammed Bazaar, Muraroi, Rampurhat," said a senior official of the forest department. The main reason of increasing illegal sawmills in the bordering areas is the mobility of smuggled wood. "The sawmill owners buy the wood from Jharkhand illegally and they sell those inside the district at a higher rate. So, the government is losing a huge revenue every year. The forest areas of Birbhum and Jharkhand are gradually depleting due to illegal cutting of tress,” said the official. During raids forest officials seized eight mills in Rajnagar, six in Suri and Mohammed Bazaar, four in Rampurhat and 16 in the Muraroi police station area. "Other illegal sawmills will also be sealed soon as per order of the Supreme court," said Mr Kishore S Mankar, DFO, Birbhum. The forest department officials, however, had no explanation about how the illegal sawmills were running in the district for the past 30 years.