India, July 1 -- The Chhattisgarh forest department has moved to establish a permanent forest protection network in the largely unmapped forests of Abujhmad by deploying local youths at 30 locations and proposing five new forest ranges to curb illegal tree felling and strengthen its presence in the region, officials said.

The move comes amid reports of illegal tree felling in the region.

"At present, this area is not under the formal administrative control of the forest department as the revenue survey is still underway. Once the survey is completed and the land is officially recorded as forest, we will initiate the legal and administrative processes," principal chief conservator of forests Arun Pandey said.

Without waiting for the sur...