Himachal Pradesh unit of the CPI-M on Friday demanded sacking of State Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri over mass illegal felling of trees on the outskirts of Shimla.
The CPI-M also sought a judicial inquiry into the matter. The Communist Party of India-Marxist in a statement stated, “We are asking the Chief Minister to sack the Forest Minister for making such an irresponsible statement that the trees can be ordinarily cut in private premises.
The CPI-M said the State Government should hold a judicial inquiry into the whole episode. The Opposition BJP has already demanded a probe into the incident by a sitting judge of the High Court.
Notably, the National Green Tribunal had taken suomotu cognisance of media reports about illegal felling of the trees and issued notice to the chief secretary and the principal secretary (forests) to file their reply before January 8, the next date of hearing.
Principal Secretary (Forests) Tarun Shridhar had told the reporters that a team of forest officials had visited the site and found that 477 trees, including deodar and oak, had been axed.
In the report, the Forest Department pointed out that the owner of the land allegedly tried to burn the stumps and branches of the chopped trees.