Scam in BJP govt’s tree plantation drive? Min announces probe

State forest minister Sanjay Rathod on Wednesday announced a probe into the ambitious tree plantation drive undertaken by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

State forest minister Sanjay Rathod on Wednesday announced a probe into the ambitious tree plantation drive undertaken by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government from 2016 to 2019, under which they claimed to have planted 33 crore saplings.

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Rathod, also a Shiv Sena leader, told HT that he had directed the forest secretary to investigate whether there were any irregularities in the tree plantation drive conducted in the past five years of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. The forest department then was headed by BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar. “I have directed the secretary, forest department to conduct a probe to check if there were any irregularities in the tree plantation campaign conducted by the previous government as my office received complaints,” Rathod said. “I’m not saying there were irregularities or a scam took place. The directives were issued after receiving complaints. If anything is found anything wrong, action will be taken against the guilty.”

Mungantiwar, in response, sent a letter to the forest minister, demanding a probe by a retired judge high court, instead of an inquiry just by the forest secretary. Rathod, however, clarified that he was not casting aspersions on his predecessor, stating Mungantiwar is a senior leader and it was a good initiative. “A minister doesn’t go to plant trees. The ground work is done by officials concerned,” he clarified.

“The tree plantation drive planned as a bid to tackle several challenges, from climate change to deforestation, was our ambitious programme. More than 32 government agencies and 40 organisations contributed in this programme to plant 33 crore saplings. I welcome a probe if there are any doubts about the drive, but I think it should be done by a retired high court justice and not by forest secretary,” said Mungantiwar. The probe will look at how many species were planted and how many of them survived. One of the complainants was Rathod’s ministerial colleague and relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar. Wadettiwar, a senior Congress leader, said he had filed the complaint as not even half the saplings survived. “After receiving many complaints I decided to follow up the matter with the forest minister. It needs to be investigated,” Wadettiwar said.

The probe will look at how many species were planted and how many of them survived. One of the complainants was Rathod’s ministerial colleague and relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar. Wadettiwar, a senior Congress leader, said he had filed the complaint as not even half the saplings survived. “After receiving many complaints I decided to follow up the matter with the forest minister. It needs to be investigated,” Wadettiwar said.

Of the 307 lakh hectares of total area in the state, 61.35 lakh hectares (20%) comprises forests. The forest department had intended to increase the green cover to 33% through the scheme, which means planting a total of 400 crore trees.