Many bureaucrats allegedly own plots in disputed project
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 19 Dec: In the controversial case of Disha One and Disha Two projects in Paundha Village, here, where a large number of trees are reported to have been felled, the Forest Department has claimed total ignorance. It may be recalled that the promoters of the Disha projects had claimed that they had obtained permission to cut 30 trees from the Forest Department. However, in response to an RTI query by RTI activist and lawyer Vikesh Negi, the Forest Department has claimed it has no information about any permission being granted to the promoters. It may be recalled that many senior and top bureaucrats of the Uttarakhand cadre have allegedly purchased large plots in the disputed property, hence this case has assumed a high profile.
Advocate Vikesh Negi has stated that he had sought relevant information regarding permission to cut trees on the disputed land from the Forest Department under RTI. In response, the Forest Department has claimed that it has no information available on its records about any such permission being granted to fell the trees on the disputed land. Negi claims that the ‘land mafia’ had stated to the media that the Forest Department had given permission to cut 30 trees. Negi has demanded a judicial inquiry into this high profile case. He adds that, in reality, hundreds of trees standing on the disputed land were visible on Google Maps, earlier.
Hundreds of trees were shown in Google Map on the land of the disputed projects Disha-One and Disha-Two in Paundha, but at present there is not a single tree there. Clearly, the Forest Department has looked away while hundreds of the trees were being felled on the disputed land as the property was related to a large number of bureaucrats from the state.
Some high profile sources claim that more than 95 bureaucrats of the state have purchased land here. These include IAS, IPS, Indian Forest Service and PCS officers. Builder IS Bisht, who sold the land, has claimed through his lawyers that there is no flaw in the project. He has also claimed that, in reality, there were only 30 trees on this land for which the permission to fell had been duly obtained from the Forest Department. However, with the Forest Department claiming ignorance in this case, the whole incident smacks of a major conspiracy and huge illegalities.
Advocate Vikesh Negi, had asked for a copy of the permission letter to cut 1000 teak and Sal trees in Khasra number 1087 to 1091 of Paundha. This is the land where plots have been given to many bureaucrats. In response to the RTI query, the Forest Range Officer, Jhajhra Range, has replied that no information is available regarding any permission to fell the trees. Clearly it indicates that while, officially, no permission was granted by the Forest Department, the forest officials allegedly chose to look the other way when hundreds of the trees were being felled, ostensibly because the matter involved a large number of senior bureaucrats, majority of whom are still in service.
In this regard, one Ajay Goyal had registered a complaint following which an inquiry was conducted by the then ADM, Shiv Kumar Baranwal, who reported that that under Section 161 of the Zamindari Abolition Act 1950, permission should have been taken from the Assistant Collector, First Class, regarding this land. After checking the documents from Vikasnagar Sub Registrar’s Office, it was found that necessary permission was not taken.
It may be recalled that this case has been making the news since last year. However, in spite of inquiries at several levels, no concrete action has been taken. The government appears to have brushed the matter under the carpet.
