Ajay Sharma
Reasi, July 04
Despite tall claims of preserving Green cover, illegal activities go unabated in the forest of Pouni area in Reasi.
According to sources, in a fresh instance a JCB machine had wrecked havoc in one of the ‘Closures' of the forest department and the contractor accused of the same is patronized by field and junior officials in the forest department.
“Several months ago, a JCB machine was seen operating in a restricted ‘Closures' area, causing significant damage to the forest,” said sources, adding that some local employees of the forest department were witness to the destruction but preferred silence and took no action to stop it.
Block Officer Pouni was reportedly informed about the illegal activity by local residents, but, according to sources, he ignored the warnings and failed to arrive at the scene until the JCB had finished its destruction clearance work.
“This delay has fueled allegations that Block Officer Pouni and the Range Officer of the area are in nexus with the contractors who are orchestrating these illegal clearances,” said source, adding that from last many years, these forests have been subjected to massive vandalism under the very nose of the forest department.
Allegations suggested that lower-ranking officials are complicit in these illegal activities, providing support to contractors allegedly in exchange for favors.
“In a past incident that further raised eyebrows, a former Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) seized a JCB machine involved in illegal clearing and kept it under custody for nearly a month,” said sources, adding that however, no fine was imposed on the perpetrators and the machine was later released.
The locals, outraged by the continuous plundering of their precious forests and the apparent collusion of forest officials, have requested the Principal Secretary of Forests to intervene.
They demanded that a stringent action must be taken against the miscreants and the complicit officials, hoping that such steps will protect their “green gold” from further devastation.
