GANGTOK, : A worrying ecological situation has emerged in the Don Bosco region
Malbasey, Soreng, WestSikkim where a significant number of Musure Katus trees, a
native species, have been reported dead.
Concerned
citizens have raised alarms over this unusual die-off, which could have serious
ecological consequences, affecting local biodiversity, wildlife, and the
overall environment.
Given
the crucial role these trees play in maintaining ecological balance, a team of
experts from the Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI), Jorhat, Ministry of
Environment, Forests & Climate Change, and officials of the Forest &
Environment department has visited the site. They are investigating the cause
and also recommend action to prevent further spread of the disease that is
causing the deaths of these trees, it was informed.
The
case was reported in mid-January and after preliminary visits, investigations
by the experts commenced in February. The number of affected trees is, as per
initial reports, said to be in hundreds. The likely action, upon completion of
investigations and identification, would be to fell these dying trees.
Such
incidents of native trees dying in such a mysterious manner and in large numbers have
not occurred in Sikkim previously as per the existing
government records.
