Deep inside Kanasar forest, felled Deodars and a vow of secrecy

The recoveries have worried the state forest department, for this is the second such discovery of widespread timber felling discovered in the last 12 months.

The Kanasar woods are lovely, dark and deep.

In the Kanasar forests though, there is another impediment to administrative action -- a veil of secrecy.

For decades, the forests in the Chakrata division have been home to the finest deodar trees; by some estimations, among the best in Asia. High up in the Himalayas, its valleys framed by two rivers, the inaccessibility lent itself to what was hitherto believed to be untouched green slopes, protected by the tribes that live in them.

Except, it turns out, the woods mask a secret that is only just beginning to