Demands a high-level inquiry by Lieutenant Governor as to how Chandi Choi became Thandi Choi and how a village got permission for felling of Khair trees for second time in 10 years
Alleges concerning revenue, forest department officials and some blue-eyed Police officials jointly committed this scam, 89 files prepared wrongly wherein local officials of Revenue and Forest Department earned a lot
GY CORRESPONDENT
jammu, apr 12
RTI activist Sunil Kumar during a press conference at Press Club Jammu alleged illegal felling of Khair Trees of well worth crores from forest land in village Thandi Choi of Kalidhar range. Sunil Kumar said that the forest department is trying to suppress this Khair Cutting scam from forest worth crores.Sunil while addressing the press conference said that the felling of Khair is restricted, and it can be permitted only under 10 Year Khair Management (felling) Plan in which the felling permission is issued to the farmers on proprietorship land. He said that in this 10-year felling plan, a village is allowed only once. He said that village Thandi Choi had got the permission for felling in 2016-17 and Chandi Choi village had been given permission for felling in the year 2022-23. Whereas no village named Chandi Choi is located anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir, due to which the department has allowed felling once again in Thandi Choi in 2022-23. He said that some officials of the department say that felling was incomplete during the permission granted in 2016-17, only because of that the permission was given again, but never in the last six years did the people of this village demand extension of time for their Khair felling. Sunil demanded a high-level inquiry by the Lieutenant Governor as to how Chandi Choi became Thandi Choi and how a village got permission for felling of Khair trees for the second time in 10 years.
Sunil said in a media address that in this whole scam concerning revenue officials, the forest department officials and some blue-eyed police officials have jointly committed this scam. He said that when the files of the farmers were prepared after getting the permission, there was corruption of lakhs of rupees in it and the files were made in the name of those farmers at the place where there were no Khair trees. He said that I have made such a complaint in the department in which seven farmers were allowed to cut 500 Khair trees from their land owned by them from about 30 Kanals of their prop land, but they did not have even 50 Khair trees on that land, in lieu of which they felled Thousands of trees from about several hundred Kanals of forest land. He alleged that most of the 89 files that were allowed were made wrongly, in which the local officials of the Revenue Department and the Forest Department have earned a lot. He said that in 2022-23 there are many such names whose brothers, father and other family members got permission for the same land in 2016-17. He demanded that the District Magistrate should take action on her revenue officers in this matter and the higher officers of the Forest Department should take action against the local officers of the Forest Department who were present on the spot during numeration. He said that some police officers also had a role in this case, who gave smooth passage in the transportation of Trucks loaded with illegal Khair from Khour and Akhnoor.
Sunil further said that after the case came in the media, the department formed a 7-member inquiry committee, which went to the spot and found many irregularities but since this scam is worth crores, so under the pressure of the high officials of the department, the committee gave a diluted report that We are not able to trace the land of the Forest Department, so it should be first demarcated by the demarcation wing. While this team found wrong permission files, illegal numeration and evidence of uprooting of stumps which they suppressed.
Sunil raised questions that the forest department does not even know where their land is, so these officers do not have the right to continue in their positions and they should be suspended with immediate effect. He told that seeing the matter unfolding Block Forest Officer Khour Salamat, Tehsildar Kharah Balli Romesh Chandra and then SHO Khour Ratan Singh Rana prepared a report on their own without getting directions from anyone that everything is correct and genuine. They informed their higher ups that there is no forest land in Thandi Choi. Later it came to know from the website of Jammu and Kashmir land record that there is more than 10000 Kanals of forest department land in Khasra number 212, 213, 375, 379, 380, 386, 386 min etc. He asked why these three officers made this wrong report and gave wrong information to their superior officers including District Magistrate Jammu and DFO Jammu. He said that action should be taken immediately on making wrong reports on these three.
After this, the Forest Conservator of Jammu East went there with its entire staff, who investigated all the complaints received in the department and they also found many types of evidence there. The personnel of the Forest Protection Force accompanying him took dozens of photographs of uprooting of stumps (destroying evidence), use of JCB Track in forest land, stumps in forest land were seen. But despite getting so much, the department has not taken action on this matter till date. From which it can be assumed that the matter has been fixed up to a high level.
Sunil has demanded that the Lt. Governor should intervene in this multi-crore scam and take action against all the officers involved with immediate effect, because with the connivance of these officers, they are erasing all the evidence and smuggling the illegal felled Khair wood in private vehicles. He demanded that all illegal wood lying in Thandi Choi should be confiscated by the department and the Lieutenant Governor should make a joint team of honest high officials of Revenue Department and Forest Department to investigate the matter thoroughly.
