Timber mafia's hand alleged
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16/05/1999
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Hindu (New Delhi)
The powerful timber mafia is allegedly responsible for the devastating fire that has charred about 80,000 hectares of forests in the hills of Uttar Pradesh, but the Central Government says it is unaware of any such involvement and blames villagers for the destruction.The worst ever forest fire, burning for over a month, has devoured thousands of hectares of forests along with its flora and fauna besides ravaging tracts of agratian valleys and sources of water stream leaving behind a trail of burnt woods and cracked black hills.