A fresh outbreak of the sal borer, a beetle that tunnels into sal trees, has been found in the Dindori forest division of Madhya Pradesh in central India, while foresters are still felling thousands of trees damaged by last year's attack, Down To Earth reported.
Large heaps of sawdust under sal trees in the Karanjia and Bajag forest ranges point to new insect activity. Forest officials and scientists link the outbreak to a recurring infestation that is believed to come back roughly every 30 years.
In 2025 the forest department identified about 150,000 sal trees hit by the pest. Permission to fell them came in September, and more than 45,000 have been cut so far; most still lie in the Karanjia range, and a temporary timber depot has been set up at Sagartola, about 60 km away. Bharti Thackeray, divisional forest officer of the production division, said felling should be finished by December, though work in the worst areas could run to January or February.
Surendra Jatav, sub-divisional officer of the Dindori division, said he saw substantial fresh borer activity on visits to areas where felling is under way, and has asked staff for a survey and report, after which scientific institutions will be told. The full extent of the new outbreak is not yet known.
Villagers say the pest is spreading despite the felling. Kartik Ram, 60, of Sontirath village, who saw a major outbreak in the 1990s, believes this one is worse, and fears that damage to the sal forest threatens its water sources and medicinal plants. Budh Singh Patta of Kapoti village said many trees marked for removal last year were never felled, which he believes helped the pest spread, and Hirabhai of Sontirath said healthy trees were being damaged when infested ones fell against them.
Photo: Ajaynioding / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Down To Earth
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