In the name of constructing lamni Park, local public representatives as well as Forest Department officials are engaged in scams as also violating the norms at their will.
Having been appointed to protect the forest in Chhattisgarh these officials of the Forest department allegedly felled thousands of trees for creating the park keeping aside the Forest laws. Public representatives, who hardly feel tired of claiming the creation of the lamni Park as their achievement, are, however, stoically silent over the scam worth crores during the creation of the park.
Allotment of work without inviting tender, payment to the contractor against the norms, unnecessary purchases are some of the examples how the fund for the park has been plundered by officials, contractor and public representatives combine.
Not only this, by making mockery of forest laws officials of the forest department used the reserved Park as their household garden. Not only green trees were felled but construction works were also taken up rampantly affecting the wildlife living in the area.
According to information received through Right To Information, as per the working plan 10200 green pine trees standing on 342 hectares reserve forest land under the reserve forest pocket no 1720 located near railway station were felled between January 2011 and December 2012 contrary to the norms of Forest Act 1980 which prohibit felling trees or any construction inside the reserve.
Upsarpanch of Village lamni Shivendu jha had complained the police against the illegal construction and police had also enquired about it from the concerned officials but the forest department officials flatly denied having taken up any pucca construction in the park and claimed to have taken permission from the State Government for felling the green trees. Even if police had the knowledge of construction being taken up inside the park due to Government service bonhomie the investigation was brushed under the carpet.
Bastar divisional forest officer Anil Soni also denied any tree felling inside the lamni Park saying that only compartment felling was being done there. If any green tree has been felled inside the park, it would have to be verified, he added.
