Expressing displeasure over the poor attitude of the state government in controlling the forest fire in Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court has summoned the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand to the court on May 17. The court has asked the Chief Secretary to appear before the court and give clarification on the utilization of funds and vacancies in the forest department etc. The court has also ordered that the vehicles and staff of the Forest Department will not be used for election duty or any other purpose. They will not be used even in Chardham Yatra.
The apex court said that it is very sad to say that the attitude of the state government in controlling the forest fire was very lax. An action plan was prepared but no steps were taken to implement it.
The court expressed sorrow over the situation
Describing the situation as regrettable, the court said that the state government is just looking for some excuse. These orders and observations were given by a three-member bench headed by Justice BR Gavai on Wednesday during the hearing of the petition raising the issue of forest fires in Uttarakhand. The court asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Central Government, on the lack of funds and human resources on the part of the State Government, as to how much funds had been released by the Central Government.
Fund of Rs 10 crore approved from Campa fund for this year
Bhati said that the central authority had approved Rs 9.12 crore for 2022-2023 from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning (CAMPA) fund. And a fund of Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned for this year also. The court said that when the Central Authority had approved and the fund was available with the State Government, then what was the reason that out of Rs 9.12 crore, the State Government used only Rs 3.41 crore for forest works. Why was the remaining fund not used for forest works?
The court also raised the issue of non-release of state disaster management funds.
On raising the issue of non-release of National Disaster Management Fund and State Disaster Management Fund by the State Government, the Court said that it is beyond understanding how the State Government can make the basis of non-release of State Disaster Management Fund while the State Disaster Management Fund Issuance is in the hands of the state government. On the shortage of human resources, the bench said that on one hand the state is complaining of shortage of human resources and on the other hand there are a large number of vacancies. The court has directed the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand to appear in person in the court on May 17 and give clarification on the use of CAMPA funds. He will explain why despite sanction of Rs 9.12 crore from the Campa Fund for 2022-2023 from the Centre, the state government spent only Rs 3.4 crore out of it.
Chief Secretary clarified these points
The Chief Secretary will also clarify whether that fund has been used for any other purpose other than forest related activities. The Chief Secretary will also give clarification regarding the steps taken for release of State Disaster Management funds and filling of vacant posts of Forest Department. It will also be told how much time will be taken to fill the vacant posts and what measures have been taken by the state government to control forest fires caused by highly flammable pine trees. The court said that the rosy picture presented by the state government in the last hearing was not correct. The court also noted that despite exemption given by the Election Commission, forest department employees were put on election duty.
The court gave these orders
The court ordered that vehicles of forest personnel and forest department will not be used for elections or any other purpose like Chardham Yatra. Earlier, the state government told what steps have been taken and what measures are being taken to control the forest fire. The state government’s counsel said that the court should constitute a committee comprising representatives of the Central Empowerment Committee (CEC), the Centre, and the state government to give holistic suggestions to deal with the issue.
