A few revenue officials in Ranni, including a tahsildar and a village officer, are facing disciplinary action for abetting forest plunder from the Vattakappara hill in Chethackal village in Ranni taluk.
In an inquiry report submitted to District Collector P.B. Noohu on December 17, 2019, Thiruvalla Subcollector Vinay Goel recommended disciplinary action against the officials involved in preparing a ‘misleading’ report showing the land as revenue puramboke.
However, Western Ghats Protection Council leaders Avinash Palleenazhikath and Reji Malayalappuzha said they suspected a move to protect tahsildar Sajan Kuriakose and village officer Sunil M. Nair, who were found guilty in the report. The revenue authorities had not taken any action on the report even after three months, they said.
Protests
The issue came to the fore following protests by the local people against the felling of trees from 4.3440 ha on the hill on the strength of an application seeking No Objection Certificate (NOC) for granite quarrying from there.
The Collector directed the Subcollector to inquire into the matter and he carried out a four-day site inspection in November last and found that the hill was very much a part of the reserve forests.
The Subcollector said no permission could be granted for granite quarrying in the area identified as forestland. Local people told the inquiry officer that trees were cut and transported in trucks on the night of August 20, 2019.
Dr. Goel, in his report, said neither the village officer nor the tahsildar had given due importance to the complaints from the public. While recommending for NOC, the revenue officials prepared the survey sketch on the basis of the land register and the incomplete resurvey sketch that had not been handed over to the revenue authorities.
The NOC application was sent to the village officer seeking an official report on March 18, 2019 and the report was sent only on August 7, 2019. The statements given by the local people showed that the trees were felled and smuggled from the hill during this period. The site inspection carried out by a Forest Department team too supported this argument.
Dr. Goel said the tahsildar had failed to comply with the direction to personally inspect the site. Though the official records clearly demarcated the land as reserve forests, the report submitted by the tahsildar recommended granting of NOC. The Subcollector also sought disciplinary action against the officials who were found guilty and stern action against those who have cut the trees.
