Uttarakhand top forest officials transferred over irregularities in Corbett Tiger Reserve

Dehradun, Nov 26

More than two dozen officials of the Uttarakhand forest department have been transferred following allegations of large scale felling of trees and illegal constructions in Corbett Tiger Reserve's buffer zone.

 Among the 29 officials that were transferred are the state's Head of Forest Force Rajiv Bhartari and Chief Wildlife Warden J S Suhag.

According to an order dated November 25, Bhartari has been replaced by Chief Conservator of Forests Vinod Kumar, who was heading the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board. Bhartari, on the other hand, will fill in Kumar's shoes as the head the board, the order said.

Suhag has been relieved of the additional charge of Chief Wildlife Warden while he will continue to be the Chief Executive Officer of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority project. Chief Conservator of Forests (eco-tourism) Parag Madhukar Dhakate will take over the additional charge from Suhag, the order stated.

A fact-finding team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had raised objections to the alleged massive felling of trees and illegal constructions in the Corbett Tiger Reserve's buffer zone.

The NTCA team, after a field survey, had recommended identifying and penalising officials with whose connivance the alleged illegal constructions had been carried out in Kalagarh and Morghatti forest zones of the reserve. It had also recommended setting up a vigilance probe into the role of officials. PTI