By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 27 Aug: The Mussoorie Division of the Forest Department has refuted the allegations that over 7,000 boundary pillars in the division used to mark the boundary of the forest land have gone missing. It may be recalled that the Mussoorie Forest Division has come into focus after reports surfaced that nearly seven thousand boundary pillars were missing from its jurisdiction. The issue was particularly highlighted when the then Chief Conservator of Forests (Working Plan) Sanjeev Chaturvedi had written to the PCCF and HoFF, seeking an SIT or CBI inquiry into the alleged scam. Interestingly, Chaturvedi has since been shifted out and moved to a rather low profile posting related to training. Interestingly, Chaturvedi has faced frequent transfers through his career so far.
Divisional Forest Officer, Mussoorie Forest Division, Amit Kanwar has strongly refuted the allegations that went viral on social media. Kanwar has claimed that these allegations are entirely baseless.
Speaking to media persons, Kanwar has claimed that neither the pillars are missing nor has any scam taken place. He maintained that the reports being circulated were misleading, incomplete and driven by malafide intentions. He reminded that, in 2023, the Forest Department had carried out a comprehensive survey across the 40,000-hectare area of the division, during which 7,375 pillars were found unavailable on the ground at that time. He claimed that unavailability of these pillars during the survey did not imply disappearance, but rather that several areas were covered by dense vegetation or rendered inaccessible due to terrain. In some places, landslides had buried the markers, making them temporarily invisible.
The DFO further asserted that there is no indication of any scam, and that a detailed re-survey has already begun. Under this exercise, the pillars are being re-identified and re-established with the help of Survey of India maps and GPS coordinates. He added that the field staff’s monthly diaries recorded the condition of the pillars, noting whether they were visible, damaged, or subject to encroachment. According to him, no evidence of any large-scale tampering or shortage had been found in these reports.
On the allegations that the absence of pillars had led to forest land being encroached upon, Kanwar stated that encroachment can only be determined after thorough verification through surveys, maps and revenue records. Temporary non-visibility of pillars, he emphasised, did not constitute encroachment. He pointed out that, since 2024, the department had already retrieved 35.9 hectares of encroached forest land, while legal proceedings under the Indian Forest Act were continuing for a further 13.43 hectares.
In certain reports, questions were also raised about Kanwar’s personal properties, particularly in the wake of the fact that Chaturvedi had recommended an independent inquiry by the CBI into properties of the forest officers. Responding to these, Kanwar asserted that all his and his family’s assets have been acquired through legitimate means and are regularly declared in the annual Immovable Property Returns submitted to the government. He warned that those seeking to tarnish his image by spreading false information would face defamation proceedings. He stressed that his personal assets bore no relation to the issue of forest pillars or land.
Kanwar also shared that the forest department has prepared a phase-wise action plan to address the matter of boundary pillars. The plan involves re-establishing them based on GPS coordinates, Survey of India maps, field reports and local records. He said that encroachment cases would be investigated and legal action would be pursued wherever required.
