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Green pledge gathers dust
- Derelict Dfos gallivant scot-free
KATHMANDU, JUN 26 -
Despite promises of action against 16 District Forest Officers (DFOs) who have been found responsible for deforestation, the government has done nothing so far.
Sources close to the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) said the Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) directed to initiate action against the DFOs, but the ministry has not sent them any notice. Earlier, after mounting pressure over alarming deforestation in Chure and Tarai districts, both Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Forest Minister Deepak Bohora had assured of action against the 16 DFOs.
After the CIAA directive on June 18, Forest Secretary Yub Raj Bhusal had said the ministry would call all suspected DFOs at the ministry and initiate action against them if they are found guilty. “Leave aside investigation, the ministry has not even sent letters to the concerned DFOs asking them to come for clarification,” he said.
Sources said two DFOs — Babu Ram Bhandari and Mohan Koirala from Kailali and Bara districts — were called to the ministry a few days after the CIAA directive but no action was taken against them.
“We feel the investigation process by the ministry has been delayed. We have been investigating into the DFOs’ involvement in deforestation and they will not be let off,” said CIAA Secretary Bhagwati Kafle.
Meanwhile, Madhav Acharya, director general of Department of Forests said the ministry has not circulated any order despite the CIAA’s decision to probe into the DFOs’ activities. He, however, said that the MoFSC had asked for the names of all 75 DFOs of the country earlier. “There was only a brief discussion with Prime Minister Nepal, Forest Minister Bohora and other government officials in this regard,” Acharya said.
Annually, Nepal lost nearly 53,000 hectares of forest from 2000 to 2005, which is about 1.4 percent deforestation per year. Latest government reports state that more than 100,000 hectares of forests, mostly government owned, have been destroyed across the country due to deforestation and encroachment.
June 14: PM summons Forest Minister on deforestation issue
June 16: Govt bans felling, selling of trees
June 18: CIAA directs Ministry to take action against 16 DFOs
June 20: Vigilance Centre confirms deforestation due to corruption
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Baburam Bhandari (Kailali)
Mohan Koirala (Bara)
Sudhir Koirala (Jhapa)
Immamiddhin Ansari (Ilam)
Shantamuni Tamrakar (Udayapur)
Rambriksha Thakur (Sunsari)
Yogedra Prasad Thakur (Sindhuli)
Shambhu Prasad Chaurasiya (Makawanpur)
Yam Bahadur Thapa (Chitwan)
Shahirat Prasad Thakur (Nawalparasi)
Shyam Prasad Sharma (Banke)
Ramesh Chanda (Kanchanpur)
Shekhar Kumar Yadav (Sarlahi)
Ganesh Kumar Karki (Panchthar)
Mahendra Chaudhary (Rautahat)
Dhanis Chandra Thakur (Dadeldhura)
Posted on: 2010-06-27 07:59
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