Corbett chief, 2 IFS officers sacked over illegal construction

The orders were issued by principal secretary forests RK Sudhanshu on Wednesday. HT has seen a copy of the orders.

Published on: Apr 28, 2022, 06:18:33 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi, Dehradun

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Acting on the Uttarakhand high court’s directions to take action in complaints of illegal constructions and felling of trees in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), the state government on Wednesday suspended two Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers and removed the director of the wildlife sanctuary from his post.

A tiger in the forest of Corbett Tiger Reserve. (HT File photo)

The orders were issued by principal secretary forests RK Sudhanshu on Wednesday. HT has seen a copy of the orders.

JS Suhag, former chief wildlife warden and current chief executive officer (CAMPA) and Kishan Chand, former divisional forest officer of Kalagarh Tiger Reserve, were suspended. CTR director Rahul (who goes by his first name), was removed from his post and attached to the office principal chief conservator of forests, Dehradun.

In January this year, the HC had directed the state chief secretary and principal secretary, forests, to take action against the officials found guilty in the case of illegal constructions and felling of trees in reserve’s Pakhro and Morghati areas.

On April 17, the state government served show cause notice to Rahul and asked him to reply within 15 days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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