Damak, April 1:

The Hanshe Dumse community forest users here have stopped providing wood to the Bhutanese refugees for cremating their dead since Saturday. Earlier, it used to provide them wood for the purpose regularly.

Claiming that the refugees are continuing to indulge in illegal timber deals, Himalaya Dahal, chairman of the forest consumers’ group, said: “As the whole forest is under threat, we are in no position to supply them wood.” Secretary at the Beldangi-3 camp Hari Adhikari said a refugee had died on Thursday and that the cremation process was hampered as the community forest refused to provide timber logs. “They gave us the logs only after repeated requests.”

Last year also, a similar problem had surfaced and wood supply resumed for the time being after the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the refugees and forest consumers’ group reached an agreement for construction of an electric incinerator. Dahal said, “We cannot resume the supply of timber logs for a long time.” Both parties have continued

to fight over the alleged illegal timber deals.