DEHRADUN: Forest guards and officials of the Uttarakhand Forest Corporation are on a tree-cutting spree in the Lachchiwala reserve forest area for developing chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank's dream project — a herbal garden spread over five acres of forest land.
Over 300 lush green trees of sheesham, kher, semal, kukat, silver oak and kaju were felled in on Monday and Tuesday in blatant violation of Indian Forests Protection Act of 1927. The Lachchiwala forest, located just 18 km from the state capital, falls under the Dehradun forest division.
Confirming the felling of trees, divisional forest officer, Dehradun, Meenakshi Joshi said it was necessary for creating the herbal garden.
Official sources said the process of cutting trees was still on and insisted that the forest officials had not obtained permission for inflicting brutality on the trees. They said felling green trees without prior permission in reserve forest area is not only a cognizable but also a non-bailable offence under the act of 1927.
While Joshi claimed that she had obtained permission for cutting of trees, the chief conservator of forests, D V S Khati said he wasn't aware of it. Apart from Dehradun, the government plans to develop herbal gardens in 12 other districts at Rs 3 crore each. Since these herbal gardens are being developed by the forest department, the total budget of Rs 39 crore was allocated by the government at the behest of the CM a couple of weeks ago.
Senior forest officer Srikant Chandola said the herbal garden could be developed even without cutting down so many trees. ''Instead of conserving these green trees which would have enhanced the beauty of the herbal garden, the forest department is bent on cutting them down,'' Chandola added.
Read more: 300 trees cut for Uttarkhand CM's project - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/300-trees-cut-for-Uttarkhand-CMs-project/articleshow/7154063.cms#ixzz1907NZIzZ
Over 300 lush green trees of sheesham, kher, semal, kukat, silver oak and kaju were felled in on Monday and Tuesday in blatant violation of Indian Forests Protection Act of 1927. The Lachchiwala forest, located just 18 km from the state capital, falls under the Dehradun forest division.
Confirming the felling of trees, divisional forest officer, Dehradun, Meenakshi Joshi said it was necessary for creating the herbal garden.
Official sources said the process of cutting trees was still on and insisted that the forest officials had not obtained permission for inflicting brutality on the trees. They said felling green trees without prior permission in reserve forest area is not only a cognizable but also a non-bailable offence under the act of 1927.
While Joshi claimed that she had obtained permission for cutting of trees, the chief conservator of forests, D V S Khati said he wasn't aware of it. Apart from Dehradun, the government plans to develop herbal gardens in 12 other districts at Rs 3 crore each. Since these herbal gardens are being developed by the forest department, the total budget of Rs 39 crore was allocated by the government at the behest of the CM a couple of weeks ago.
Senior forest officer Srikant Chandola said the herbal garden could be developed even without cutting down so many trees. ''Instead of conserving these green trees which would have enhanced the beauty of the herbal garden, the forest department is bent on cutting them down,'' Chandola added.
Read more: 300 trees cut for Uttarkhand CM's project - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/300-trees-cut-for-Uttarkhand-CMs-project/articleshow/7154063.cms#ixzz1907NZIzZ
No comments:
Post a Comment