The Forest Department has suspended four officers of Hassan district and recommended disciplinary action against the Deputy Conservator of Forests on charges of dereliction of duty following the illegal felling of 126 trees at Nandagodanahalli in Belur taluk.
B. Venkateshamurthy, Deputy Secretary of the Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department, issued the order of suspension on Thursday, based on the inquiry report by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of the State.
The officers suspended are Dr. Prabhugowda Eranagouda Biradar, ACF of Hassan sub-division, Vinay Kumar, RFO of Belur; Gururaj D., DRFO of Arehalli; and Raghu Kumar H.B., forest guard of Malasawar. Further, the Forest Department recommended the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) take action against D. Mohan Kumar, DCF of Hassan, as he is an officer of the Indian Forest Service.
As many as 126 well-grown trees, including forest varieties, were cut in the revenue land of survey number 16 of Nandagodanahalli in Arehalli hobli. Belur tahsildar Mamatha during her visit to the village, noticed the incident and brought it to the attention of Forest Department officials on December 16.
Belur RFO registered an FIR, and Rakesh Shetty and Jayamma, residents of the village, were the accused. The officials seized timber, billets, two power chain saws, a tractor, a trailer, and two excavators running on chain (hitachi) from the spot. Belur tahsildar, Mamatha, stated in her report to the Forest Department on December 21 that the land where the trees were cut was government land and had been granted to a few people. The officer stated that the trees were cut down to cultivate ginger.
BJP MP’s brother
The Forest Department has found that Vikram Simha, a resident of Biradahalli in Sakaleshpur, had an agreement with Anand and Jayamma to cultivate ginger on three acres and 10 guntas of land in the village. Simha is the brother of Mysuru Lok Sabha member Pratap Simmha of BJP. The police and forest officials visited his house at Biradahalli on December 15 for an inquiry. However, they did not find him. He has been absconding.
The PCCF, in his report, said that the negligence and dereliction of duty of the above-mentioned officers were evident. “It is an act of grave negligence as the trees were being cut using tractors, trailers, excavators, and power saws on the land adjacent to a main road,” the report said. Besides that, the PCCF noted that the officers failed to take action against the concerned officials even 12 days after the incident was reported. Hence, the officers had been suspended as per the Karnataka Civil Services Rules (Conduct), 2021, pending an inquiry.
