BALANGIR: Deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Monday trekked to the top of Budharaja hill and made an on-the-spot verification of plantation activities after receiving allegations of irregularities.
The stock-taking by Singh Deo exposed impropriety in plantation and led to suspension of a forester.
Singh Deo who also represents Patnagarh Assembly segment, decided to visit the area after people complained that funds running into lakhs of rupees sanctioned for plantation were misappropriated by forest department officials.
The deputy CM was on a visit to his constituency to celebrate Durga Puja and take part in the traditional ‘Laakh Bindha’ (shooting) function at his Raj Khamar house in Patnagarh.
He first summoned the officials for explanation. After learning about plantation taken up on Budharaja hill and three villages under Larambha section of Patnagarh forest range, he decided to trek to the spot.
Singh Deo who was accompanied by the divisional forest officer, deputy superintendent of Vigilance, range officer and forester could not find any plantation in the hill areas or in the villages.
“All they could show me was plantation carried out in 2022, 2023 but they failed to point to the activities carried out this year,” Singh Deo told mediapersons later. He checked files and to his utter surprise, found that funds sanctioned for the two years were released but no work on ground could be seen.
The deputy CM asked the Vigilance officer to seize the documents, conduct an enquiry, and also recommended the DFO to take immediate action against the officials involved. “I am committed to transparency and accountability,” he said on his social media handle later.
During the exercise, it came to fore that the forester present at the spot was in charge of the plantation but had long been transferred from the area. Though a new forester had joined, the said field staff was not relieved from his post. He was immediately placed under suspension.
