Ranger is accountable!
- There is nexus among revenue officials, forest officials and private contractors for wreaking the huge scam of illegal felling of Khair trees from forest land compartment 29 and 30.
jj correspondent
Jammu, Mar 30: What was the intention of revenue officials to declare the forest land during the demarcation process? Why the forest officials remained silent over the wrong demarcation done by the revenue department? Is it well-planned conspiracy hatched by revenue and forest officials in collaboration with private contractors to lay hands on Khair trees from the Forest land? Why the officials of Forest department remained mute spectators when the official of revenue department infront the forest officials denouncing the forest land as private land? Who is the powerful and influential person behind the huge forest scam and credibly influencing the investigation? Is he from Forest department or revenue department or private person? These are very typical and concrete questions for the administration to reply all these questions so that the people may know the facts.
It is astounding but it is true that one field official of Forest department had accepted on camera (video in our possession) that maximum felling of Khair has been done from Compartment 29 and 30 where major portion of forest land exist. He further accepted that revenue employees engaged for marking of Khair trees for felling have marked many Khair Trees illegally deep inside the Forest land, which was troublesome. The field forest official have accepted that revenue officials have deliberately and with ill intention marked many trees inside the forest area where the forest boundary BP was missing.
The Field Forest official of said area says that it was revenue patwari marked the Khair trees for felling in Forest land that too in their presence but some days earlier they were asked about the forst land the forest officials denied for having forest land in Thandi Choi. He further confirms that we were aware that this marking is going on in our forest area but I did not objected as it was duty of Forestor or my higher official verifying the same. According to forest official that the forester was the actual person who can be held responsible for wrong demarcation of Khair Trees, whereas he has no role in it.
Where the boundary pillar of the forest was in front, we did not allow it to be cut, but where there was no proof of the forest boundary, we got the marking done from the revenue and got the trees cut and that is the responsibility of the revenue.
When he was asked that you knew that signs were being put in the forest land, why did you not register objections, then he said that he tried but could not got it mature. He opted to remain silent as ranger was liable for this purpose.
The whole matter is that the foresters knew from the time of marking before cutting the Khair trees that marking was being done in the forest land and all this happened with the connivance of both the departments. The Forest Department took full advantage of the fact that the boundary of the forest was not visible. While it was his responsibility that if he did not know the forest boundary, he would have taken the boundary line from his department’s demarcation team and then got it marked, but he took advantage of this.
He said that most of the devastation happened because there were very few days for cutting. 12 contractors used 10 cutters, 120 cutters were engaged, and even if one cutter was cutting 50 trees daily, thousands of trees were being cut daily, what about me too? Would have done.
