Bangalore Mirror ; Monday, September 27, 2010;
Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act does not allow the establishment of a forest cell in the civic body
If axing Bangalore’s green cover is making you see red, here comes another shocker: The agency that has been granting permission to chop trees is itself illegal.
At least that is the conclusion one would arrive at from the reply given by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to Basavanagudi resident N Vikramsimha about the legal status of its forest cell. In the last two years, the cell has allowed the axing of over 1,000 huge trees.
Questioned about the motive and need for the forest cell, the BBMP revealed that there was no order or notification by the state government to set up the forest cell. The Right to Information (RTI) response also reveals that establishment of a forest cell in the BBMP is not permissible under the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act.
MYSTERY OF the FOREST DEPARTMENT
Sources revealed that it was created to accommodate officials from the state forest department who wanted postings in the city.
The BBMP’s forest cell has more than 30 officials who are on deputation from the forest department.
A BBMP official said, “The posts in the forest cell do not have the government’s sanction. When the horticulture department can manage more than 700 parks in the city, can’t they manage the trees in the city? The cell was created just to accommodate people who joined government service through the forest department but do not want to rough it out in the wilderness.”
WHAT THE CELL DOES
It is headed by an IFS officer designated as chief conservator of forests. Several BBMP commissioners have assigned work orders to this cell. These include implementing the Tree Preservation Act, supervision and management of urban forests and removal of encroachments on lake beds.
The assistant conservator of forests performs the duties of a tree officer who, among other things, is empowered by the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976 to grant permission to fell trees in BBMP areas.
TUSSLE IN THE BBMP
The officials most affected by the forest cell are the ones in the horticulture department.
Once the forest cell was established, BBMP commissioners began giving its officials the responsibilities that were earlier vested with the horticulture department.
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