Furniture seizure triggers blockade

The blockade of Asian Highway 2 on Wednesday.
 Picture by Passang Yolmo

TT, Siliguri: Hundreds of carpenters blocked Asian Highway 2 at Shivmandir near here to protest seizure of furniture from their shops on Wednesday by the special task force of the Bengal forest department.

As traffic was hit, Matigara police reached the spot and persuaded the carpenters to withdraw the blockade after an hour.

"A number of furniture shops are running at Shivmandir without licences. There is also information that they procure timber in an illegal manner. That is why raids were conducted and furniture seized. When we asked shop owners to show documents to prove they have bought timber in a legal manner, they failed. That is why we seized some of the furniture from the shops, which we suspect, were made of illegal timber," said Sanjay Dutta, range officer of the special task force.

According to sources in the forest department, any carpenter using timber to make furniture should carry documents of the purchase.

"Otherwise, it would be deemed that the timber was obtained illegally. It is an offence to use such wood," said the source. In total, furniture worth around Rs 20 lakh was seized. Those were loaded onto trucks and taken away. Immediately after the seizure, the carpenters blocked the highway. They set fire to some tyres and launched the blockade.

"Without serving any prior notice, they raided our shops and took away the furniture. They should have clarified to us about the documents but instead, acted in haste. That is why some of the workers had resorted to protest," said Bikash Ghosh, a member of Shivmandir Wooden Furniture Manufacturers Welfare Association.

Foresters, however, made it clear that such raids would continue. "We would not let use of illegal timber to make furniture. Such raids will continue," said Dutta.