B Ravichandran | Udhagamandalam MUDIMUND forest area near here appears to be the hotspot of timber mafia as the environmentalists allegeillegal felling of rare shola trees. Notwithstanding the protection measures taken up by the government, the forests in and around Nilgiris are more susceptible to the activities of timber-mafias, who are said to be very active in certain remote forest areas. In line with this, reports are now coming about the illegal felling of shola trees, a rare variety of indigenous tree, around Mudimund area. Disclosing the incidents of felling, Jayachandran, joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Green Movement(TNGM), said: "We have received information with photographic evidence about the ongoing illegal felling of shola trees in some places in Mudimund.' "Though felling of shola trees is banned, it is learnt that felling of has become rampant at a private land near Mudimund. We suspect that some trees in the adjoining Pykara Reserve Forest also would have suffered damage." These illegal fellings would not have occurred without the connivance of forest offi cials and field forest staff, he charged. The forest officials should take immediate action and ar rest the culprits, he demand ed. When asked about this complaint, Arun, District Forest Officer(South Divi sion) said: "I received com plaints about some tree felling at a private land near the Mudimund area and or dered my sub-ordinate offi cers to conduct a thorough enquiry to find out the fact. Meanwhile, BK K Ku maran, president of the Nilgiris Environment and Animals Protection Samithi, said, "We suspect a strong nexus between some some range level forest officials and timber mafia, which ultimately paves way for illegal felling. If action is not taken, we would move court."