Alarmed by the fast disappearance of Orissa State's forest cover, 30 MLAs cutting across various parties have urged Chief Minister Navin Patnaik to stall the move to amend the Forest Act. The amendment seeks to lift the present restriction on setting up saw mills within a 10 km radius of forested areas. In a memorandun to the Chief Minister, the legislators, representing mostly tribal-dominated, forest-rich constituencies, said such a relaxation in the existing law would only spell doom for the green wealth of the State. Moreover, it would also jeopardise the livelihood of lakhs of tribals and the Harijans who depend upon the jungles for survival.