Ukd HC ask govt to act against those behind illegal constructions in Corbett

The PIL was filed by Dehradun resident Anu Pant alleging that Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand was posted in sensitive areas like Kalagarh in Corbett Tiger Reserve despite having been convicted of serious crimes of buying and selling skins of wild animals.

The Uttarakhand High Court has directed Chief Secretary S S Sandhu and Principal Secretary (Environment) Anand Bardhan to take strict action against offenders responsible for illegal constructions in the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

The order was passed on Thursday by the division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice Alok Kumar Verma on a PIL on illegal constructions in Pakhro and Morghatti areas of Kalagarh in the CTR. The PIL was filed by Dehradun resident Anu Pant alleging that Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand was posted in sensitive areas like Kalagarh in Corbett Tiger Reserve despite having been convicted of serious crimes of buying and selling skins of wild animals. Chand was found guilty by the Uttar Pradesh government of buying and selling skins of wild animals in 1999, it said. A fact-finding team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority during a field inspection of Morghatti and Pakhro in the Kalagarh area of the reserve had found illegal constructions and felling of trees in violation of the norms.

The PIL further claimed that when activities of illegal construction started in Corbett and an investigation report was prepared by the NTCA, Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand was found guilty for the illegal constructions after which a high-level committee was constituted under the direction of the high court.

In another report of a committee, headed by the then Head of Forest Force Rajiv Bhartari, Kishan Chand was also found involved in the illegal construction activities in the reserve.

The then Chief Wildlife Warden J S Suhag, however, did not take any action against Chand, the PIL said.

After the report was presented before the high court, the then Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajiv Bhartari was removed from the post by the government. The government had passed orders for the transfer of Kishan Chand on November 25 but the orders were never implemented and Chand is believed to have not handed over the charge to another officer to date.

The high court asked on what basis senior officers were transferred in this manner during the investigation.

Passing a detailed order, the court has ordered the chief secretary and principal secretary (Environment) to take punitive action against the offenders. The matter was listed for the next hearing on February 14.