NILGIRIS: Two forest staff of Kotagiri range were transferred on Monday allegedly over failing to stop a state minister’s son-in-law, who is the owner of Medanad estate, from levelling a portion of land in the reserve forest and inform higher authorities about the incident.
Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy issued the order on Monday transferring Kotagiri forest range officer AMN Siva to social forestry in the Hosur forest range and A Dhanabalan to Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR). Nilgiris District Forest Officer S Gowtham served the order to them on Tuesday.
Official sources said that these forest staff should have informed DFO about the violation happening inside their jurisdiction. However, as the foresters failed to do so, the DFO himself filed a case against estate manager Balamurugan and two drivers following a tip-off. Later, the minister’s son-in-law, D Sivakumar, was booked as the prime suspect in the case.
Apart from levelling the reserve forest road without obtaining permission from the forest department, the estate authorities also allegedly cut trees in the reserve forest. Though the DFO sought an explanation through a memo on April 11, Siva and Dhanabalan failed to respond to that too, sources added.
Confederation of Environmental Associations of Nilgiris (Kotagiri Chamber) Coordinator Surjit K Chaudhary demanded that the levelled area should be reversed back to its original state.