Uttarakhand HC issues notices into missing forest boundary pillars in Mussoorie

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued notices to the CBI, the Centre, and others in connection with the investigation into 7,375 missing forest boundary pillars and the alleged rapid and unusual increase in the assets of field forest officers posted in the Mussoorie Forest Division.

A division bench of Justice Manoj Tiwari and Justice Subhash Upadhyay directed all respondents, including the State Government, the Survey of India, and the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), to file their affidavits within six weeks and fixed February 11 as the next date of hearing.

During the hearing, the court expressed strong displeasure over the disappearance of such a large number of boundary pillars. A petition filed by environmental activist Naresh Chaudhary seeks directions to the Survey of India to conduct a comprehensive, scientific, and geo-referenced survey of all forest areas falling under the Mussoorie Forest Division to identify the exact locations of all missing boundary pillars and to re-establish them in a time-bound manner.

The petitioner has also requested directions for the implementation of a restoration and rehabilitation plan for the affected areas of the Mussoorie Forest Division and for all forest land currently under the charge or control of revenue officials to be transferred to the Forest Department within a stipulated timeframe.

The matter came to light in 2023 when the then Chief Conservator of Forests, Sanjeev Chaturvedi, ordered a survey of all forest boundary pillars in the Mussoorie Forest Division. At that time, a new working plan for the forest division was being prepared. The report submitted by the then Divisional Forest Officer of Mussoorie revealed that out of a total of 12,321 boundary pillars, 7,375 pillars were found missing on the ground. According to the report, it was also found that nearly 80 per cent of these missing boundary pillars disappeared from only two ranges, the Mussoorie Range and the Raipur Range.

These two ranges are considered highly lucrative from a real estate perspective, with immense potential for the development of hotels, resorts, and residential complexes.

Chaturvedi wrote to the Head of the Forest Department (HoFF) of the state in June and August, requesting that the matter be handed over to the CBI and ED for investigation. In these letters, he also demanded an inquiry into the assets of the concerned divisional forest officers, citing the accumulation of a large amount of immovable property in their names. In August, the regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also wrote to the State Government, urging them to investigate the matter and take necessary action. That letter called for appropriate steps to be taken in cases involving violations of the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Meanwhile, the State HoFF has constituted a new committee under the leadership of Rajiv Dhiman, the Conservator of Forests of Shivalik, to re-examine the matter. The petition alleges that this committee has been formed with the intention of “downplaying the figures” and that it may also “destroy or tamper with the evidence” available on the ground.

According to the petition, some of the officers included in the committee were previously under suspicion in cases of financial irregularities related to Miyawaki plantations, while some others have previously served in the Mussoorie Forest Division.

The petition also claims that after the number of 7,375 missing pillars was approved by the top-level state advisory committee, the Centre also approved it, and therefore, restarting the process is a procedural irregularity.