Uttrakhand Forest Fires : Supreme Court Seeks Personal Presence Of State Chief Secretary For Explanations

Taking into consideration the importance of controlling fires in the forests of Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Chief Secretary of the state to personally remain present on May 17

The bench of Justices B. R. Gavai, S. V. N. Bhatti and Sandeep Mehta required the Chief Secretary to explain-

1. As to why CAMPA Funds(Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) of only 3.1099 crores was released for the financial year 2023-24 when the Union of India had sanctioned 9.13 crores. It shall also be explained as to whether the said fund is being utilised for other purposes which are not related to forest activities.

2. What steps were taken for releasing the State Disaster Management Funds (SDMF)

3. As of now how many vacancies are remaining unfulfilled and as to within how much period the said vacancies would be fulfilled.

4. The measures that the state proposes to take of preventing fires on account of the pine needles

5. The forest persons who have been deployed on the election duties in spite of there being the specific exemption issued by the election commission of India

6. Why steps are not being taken for providing necessary equipments to the parties in various districts/talukas of the state

In the course of the hearing on Wednesday, the bench requested Additional Solicitor General of India Aishwarya Bhati to take instructions with regard to the disbursement of funds for the financial year 2023-24. In so far as the funds to be dispersed from the centrally-sponsored scheme are concerned, the ASG sought more time to get the instructions from the department. However, in so far as CAMPA funds are concerned, it was submitted that the CAMPA funds are lying with the state government and it is for the state government to release them for the purposes indicated by the central government, and that the central authority had already sanctioned an amount of Rs. 9.13 crores for the financial year 23-24

The bench also recorded in its order that Shri Dhananjai Mohan, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Uttarakhand has informed that an amount of Rs. 2 crores is already released and the state has undertaken for the release of the balance.

In the light of the prevailing situation, the bench was compelled to say in its order that “the approach of the state of Uttarakhand in controlling the fires is, to say the least, lackadaisical”. “Though action plans have been prepared and finalised, no steps have been taken for implementation of the same”, continued the bench.

“When the CAMPA fund is very much available and also sanctioned by the central authorities, we see no reason as to why only ₹2 crores out of ₹9.21 crores are being released for the forest activities. Or the reason as to why the balance amount was not utilised for the forest activities”, observed the bench

The bench noted that another issue that is to be addressed is with regard to the huge vacancies in the forest department in the state of Uttarakhand. The bench recorded the submission of the Amicus that on account of large number of vacancies, the post is not available of controlling the forest fires.

Next, the bench dealt with the issue with regard to exemption of the field officials of the forest department from the election and other related activities. “The election commission of India by various orders has exempted the requisition of the forest staff as well as the forest vehicles for election and allied purposes. Be that as it may, we direct that in all the states, the forest staff as well as the forest vehicles should not be requisitioned for election purposes or any other purposes like Chardham yatra”, ordered the bench

Noting that one of the grievances the state has indicated is regarding timely disbursement of the National Disaster Management Fund/State Disaster Management Fund and the resources requirement of persons and vehicles, the bench said, “We fail to understand as to how the state should have grievance with regard to the disbursement of the state disaster management fund. It is within the domain of the state to dispose off the said fund”. “It is pertinent to note that on the one hand, the state contends that the resources, that is, the manpower and vehicles are not available, and on the other hand, it keeps that large number of vacancies”, added the bench

The bench also recorded how the Army is using the pine-needle for the generation of electricity and that it is suggested that regarding the same to be a role model, the state of Uttarakhand should consider using the pine-needles for either generation of electricity or for generation of biogas. “We find that the state needs to take some decision in that regard”, said the bench

“In so far as the inadequacy of funds is concerned, we fail to understand as to how the state can make such a grievance when a huge amount of the CAMPA funds is lying with it and not being released for the forest-related activities”, further noted the bench. Therefore, the court on Wednesday directed the Union of India to explain their position with regard to the timely disbursement of the SDMF/NDMF and timely disbursement of funds with regard to centrally sponsored schemes.

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