ABSTRACT
The essay offers a scathing critique of the nexus between local powers and global market forces that have led to the replacement of natural forests in Bengal with eucalyptus plantations that have destroyed the local ecology that had sustained human and animal life there. The forest policy, according to the author, goes against the interests of the people who live in these areas, depriving them of the resources that used to be their means of survival. She argues that eucalyptus plantations destroy the ecological balance of the Terai region, and that the policy favours the rich at the expense of the poor, at a great cost to the nation. She recommends that a committee of experts report on the matter urgently to address the threat to the survival of natural resources, wildlife and local inhabitants of the affected areas.
