Forest officer gets show-cause notice as felling of 2,000 trees sparks outrage

The alleged illegal felling of 2,000 trees in the Muwas, Bhoj-Matour, Tehsil-Morni villages between March 10 and 21 has sparked an outrage. It has also prompted authorities to issue a show-cause notice to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vishal Kaushik, who is said to have granted an unauthorised no-objection certificate (NOC) for the felling.

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According to official reports, the unauthorised action took place in an area that has been designated as a protected forest under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900.

Notably, the Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated July 21, 2022, in the case of Narinder Singh vs. Divesh Bhutani (Civil Appeal No. 10294 of 2013), and the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s judgment in Vijay Bansal CWP No. 469 of 2017, have both clearly ruled that no non-forestry activities can be carried out in the Morni Hills region without the express permission of the Government of India.

Despite this, Kaushik allegedly issued an NOC letter No. 349 dated April 8, 2024, allowing a wood contractor to cut 4,000 trees in the area.

This was done against the written objections of the Range Forest Officer, who explicitly stated that no tree-felling permissions could be granted as the land is recognized as a forest under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (amended in 2023).

The officer allegedly ignored the warning and even directed the local range office to let the felling continue, deploying a 50-member team equipped with electric sawing machines to rampantly cut and transport trees for almost 10 consecutive days.

A show-cause notice issued to Kaushik seeks an explanation for his actions even as pressure mounts for his immediate suspension.

Raid uncovers

dubious felling

The felling of trees came to light on March 21 when the Conservator of Forests, North Circle Ambala, Jitender Ahlawat, raided the site and discovered that over 2,000 lush green trees had been chopped and transported.

Local villagers and residents, who had been denied permission to even cut a single tree for household purposes, raised complaints, bringing the felling to public attention.

Environmental activist and Congress politician Vijay Bansal condemned the illegal felling, highlighting the irony that while ordinary citizens are not allowed to remove even a single tree, large-scale deforestation was allowed under official sanction.

“This is a heinous crime against mankind and Mother Nature. The responsible officer must be suspended immediately and held accountable for his actions,” he further said.

The authorities, meanwhile, have assured that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and strict penalties will be imposed in case any violations are confirmed.

“We have issued a show-cause notice and are awaiting a response. If violations are confirmed, strict penalties will be imposed.” Ahlawat said.