Committee gives clean chit to forest minister, but members raise tough questions

The 21-member committee, which included members from the ruling and opposition alliances, was headed by BJP leader and minister Chandrakant Patil

Mumbai: Although a legislative committee constituted to probe alleged irregularities in the tree plantation drive implemented by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government between 2017 and 2019 has given a clean chit to forest minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, members of the committee have raised multiple questions over its expenses, the survival rate of plants, action against errant government officials and discrepancies in the count of planted trees.

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The 21-member committee, which included members from the ruling and opposition alliances, was headed by BJP leader and minister Chandrakant Patil. Its report, including the findings, recommendations and observations of dissenting members, was tabled in the legislative assembly on July 12, the last day of the monsoon session, following five meetings among committee members.

The overall tenor of the report was laudatory. It claimed that the plantation drive fared better than expected as 545 million trees were planted in three years compared to the initial target of 500 million trees, which increased the forest cover in the state by 11,600 hectares. It also claimed that nearly 25% of the trees perished due to flooding, unseasonal rainfall and wildfires, and several forest department officials were punished, taking cognizance of complaints received by the government during the three-year period.

Several members of the committee, however, raised questions related to the drive. “The state government has claimed that 75% of the trees survived, but the reply is inadequate and contradictory. It has not provided a list of organisations that participated in the drive, nor is there a mechanism to check on the survival of trees,” the report stated, quoting dissenting members.

On expenses incurred during the plantation drive, committee members wondered why the forest department needed to spend ₹3212 crore over three years when most of the plants were procured from government nurseries and the drive was implemented by various government departments

On action initiated against errant forest department officials, the members noted, “The department has said that they received 255 complaints in three years. They probed 131 of them and found 42 employees/officers guilty. If it is so, has the responsibility fixed against them?”

The committee was appointed by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Uddhav Thackeray. This was following an uproar in the state legislature in March 2021, when legislators alleged irregularities and financial misappropriation in the plantation drive.

Though it was initially headed by NCP leader Datta Bharane, Chandrakant Patil was appointed chairman after the change in government in June 2022. Bharane, who sided with the Aiit Pawar-led NCP during the split in the party, remained its member.

When asked about the report, Bharane said on Tuesday, “Our committee could not complete the probe. We could not even conduct spot inspection because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But according to preliminary information we received, there were no irregularities in the drive.”

An official from the state legislature said Mungantiwar wanted to replace Patil as the committee chairperson after he was appointed forest minister in July 2022, as the announcement of the committee in the state legislature had said it would be headed by the forest minister. “But this request was turned down,” said the official.

“With the change of government, and the BJP coming back to power, the committee was unlikely to give a report against its own minister. Though the committee has legislators from the opposition, their objections do not reflect in the findings and recommendations,” the officer said.