Apprehending that the suspension of Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) Bennichan Thomas from service for granting permission for felling trees in Mullaperiyar will demoralise the Forest Service, the Kerala chapter of the Indian Forest Service Association has sought his reinstatement.
Association leaders led by president P. Pugazhendi met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday and submitted a memorandum.
Listing the chain of events that led to the official issuing the order, the Association pointed out that a meeting of the Central Water Commission held on October 26 had asked the State Government to expedite the decision on the application for forest clearance. The Kerala Government representative, who had attended the meeting, had also accepted the decision.
A note prepared by the counsel for Kerala, who appeared in the Supreme Court in the Mullaperiyar case, had indicated that permission had been granted for strengthening the baby dam.
The Additional Chief Secretary (Irrigation) had on November 1 sought an action taken report on forest clearance from the CWW before November 5 so that a compliance report could be filed in the apex court, the representation pointed out.
Though the CWW issued permission for felling trees by invoking provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, clearance under the Forest Conservation Act is also needed for axing trees. The permission of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is also required for tree felling.
The CWW had referred the applications for repair of roads to Mullaperiyar to the State Wildlife Board. It can only be after obtaining all such clearances that Tamil Nadu could strengthen the baby dam, the officials pointed out.
Rallying behind the CWW, the Association pointed out that the official was not responsible for bringing the issues to the notice of the State Government, as it was the mandate of the secretaries of the Government departments concerned. The action against Mr. Thomas, an official of impeccable track record, for no fault of his will demoralise the entire Forest force, they submitted.
Senior Forest officials D. Jayaprasad, Noel Thomas, and R.S. Arun were part of the delegation.
