Dehradun, March 27 -- Over 17,000 sal trees in Dehradun and Kalsi's forests of Uttarakhand are likely to be felled following a widespread infestation of the sal borer, a wood-boring beetle, with officials identifying severely affected areas and initiating removal to contain the pest's spread.

Forest officials said on Friday that nearly 15,000 sal trees (Shorea robusta) in the Dehradun forest division have been infested by the sal borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis), while around 5,000 trees are affected in the Kalsi forest division.

The sal borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis) is a wood-boring beetle that attacks sal trees by laying eggs under the bark. Periodic outbreaks of the pest have been recorded in sal forests across northern India, t...