National Sugar Inst among 5 booked for felling of over 700 trees on campus

Kanpur: A case was registered against five people, including National Sugar Institute (NSI) director Prof Seema Paroha, in connection with the felling of over 700 trees on the institute campus in Kanpur.According to the FIR, the felling of 722 trees at NSI and the alleged misappropriation of gov property were exposed by employee organisations. Following their complaint, regional forest officer Rakesh Pandey visited NSI on May 27 to conduct an inspection. Security personnel reportedly told him that the lock could not be opened without the director's permission, following which the team returned. Later, the team met the NSI director, who accompanied them to the site and facilitated the inspection.Subsequently, a case was registered against the NSI director and others on the written complaint of the regional forest officer. The police will examine CCTV footage to determine how many trolley-loads of timber were taken out of the campus.ACP Kalyanpur Ashutosh Kumar said a case has been registered against the NSI director, NSI private security commander Uday Pratap Singh Rathore, NSI estate officer Vinay Kumar, NSI farm manager Ashok Kumar, M/s Tiwari Wood Merchant, Anwarganj, and some unidentified persons.The FIR stated that all trees felled within the NSI premises were govt property and that proceeds from the sale of timber were required to be deposited in the govt treasury. The forest department stated that on July 8, 2024, the NSI administration had obtained permission to fell only nine trees, but 722 trees were allegedly cut under the cover of that approval.After the FIR was registered at Kalyanpur police station, the investigation was handed over to Sub-Inspector Shubham Pandey.Chief conservator of forests NK Janu, meanwhile, suspended Van Daroga Ram Babu Dohre for alleged negligence in connection with the unauthorised felling of green trees at the NSI It is alleged that trees were being cut without permission in the area and that the concerned forest official remained unaware of it.According to the FIR, 655 large trees and 67 dwarf Kaner trees were illegally felled within the NSI campus. These included Prosopis, Kanji, Neem, Kaner, Cassia, Shami, Sheesham, Eucalyptus, Jungle Jalebi, Chilbil, Siris, Bottle Brush, Gulmohar, Aru, Lasoda, Chitvan, Subabul and Gular trees. Stumps of 377 trees were found, indicating that they had been cut within the past six months.During the inspection, the director informed officials that a farm was being developed at the site. Around 250 trees had reportedly been uprooted using a JCB machine. Additionally, stumps of 95 trees were found within the campus. The timber from all these trees was found missing. Some stored timber, estimated to be 8 to 10 months old, was found on the campus.