To prevent illegal woodcutting, the Changlang district government in Arunachal Pradesh has made it mandatory for trucks transporting logs to be equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) and to operate only during daylight hours.

Arunachal Pradesh has lost around 257 square kilometres of forest cover, according to the India State of Forest Report 2021. The forest cover in 2021 is estimated to be 66,430.67 square kilometres, up from 66,687.78 square kilometres in 2019. Devansh Yadav, Changlang Deputy Commissioner, said that installing GPS will assist track vehicle movement and allow a person to know a vehicle's or an individual's specific location.

According to him, the required system was recently implemented with the assistance of vehicle owners. "The action was necessary in response to public concerns about more timber being felled than the approved quantity and outside permitted areas, as there are some regions, such as reserve forests or water bodies, where falling is prohibited," he explained.
Yadav stated that illegal tree felling has affected Miao and Jairampur in the district, and that when looking for a remedy, he discovered that there was no data on trucks used to transport logs to saw mills and furniture manufacturing units in the district.

"In October, work on preparing the data began. Then we decided to connect the vehicles with GPS to track their movements from beginning to end, ensuring that they did not deviate from the district's allocated route. The programme has received backing from truck owners "He went on to say that out of the district's 100 timber-carrying trucks, over 50 had been fitted with GPS. A Forest Department official stated that each GPS installation, which is done by a Delhi-based business, costs around Rs 3,000. The GPS installation would also enable truck owners maintain track of their vehicles' movement and time.

"The Changlang administration has made GPS necessary for trucks transporting timber to 15 saw mills and 38 furniture-making units, as well as prohibiting them from plying at night. To guarantee adequate supervision by the Forest Department, only daylight movement will be permitted "Added the official.

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