Top-heavy Forest Dept has none for Bellary

There is no DCF in the district which is the hub of illegal mining and transport

An assistant conservator of forests (ACF) is holding the post of the deputy conservator of forests (DCF) which has been lying vacant for the past four months.   Forest Department sources say there is a shortage of DCFs, and Bellary would get a DCF once the appointments are made. Why does Bellary, where natural resources are being allegedly plundered by mining lessees, has no full-fledged IFS officer?

T V Srinivasan, who is currently the in-charge DCF, occupied the post after DCF S Muthaiah was promoted as CEO of the Bellary zilla panchayat.  Though ACFs are vested with executive powers when they are in-charge DCF, in reality they lack such powers. An officer below the rank of a DCF, and sometimes even a promotee DCF finds it difficult to crack the whip against violators of law, official sources say.

DCF Muthaiah was one of the officers transferred en masse when Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was at loggerheads with the Bellary Ministers (Janardhana Reddy, Karunakara Reddy and Sriramulu) in November last year.

Muthaiah was replaced by Biswajit Mishra, an IFS officer appointed as DCF. In about two weeks, Mishra imposed the Forest Development Tax (FDT) on 56 mining companies and collected nearly Rs 20 crore.

But, when the Reddys and the Chief Minister patched up, Mishra was transferred out of Bellary. Now, impressed by Mishra’s efficiency and integrity, Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has handpicked him for his team probing into illegal mining in Bellary.

It is an irony that the officer, who was in the cadre post, was shunted out of the district as DCF within two weeks. The Chief Minister, while reviewing the functioning of the Forest Department last Monday, directed top officers to seize the ore found illegally mined or transported. But practically, an officer below the rank of an IFS officer or even a state cadre officer finds it tough to conduct raids or checks especially in a district like Bellary, official sources say.

State of posts

Against the sanctioned post of 55 DCF, there are 53 officers. While 40 to 42 officers are on field work, the rest have been posted to various departments including BBMP, BDA, Lake Development Authority. In addition, some DCFs are awaiting promotion.

This will further reduce officers available for postings at district or divisional level. Such promotions would make the department top-heavy.  There are already five principal conservators of forests against the sanctioned strength of four, 21 Additional PCCFs against the sanctioned strength of 12, 42 chief conservator of forests and 38 conservator of forests while the sanctioned posts are 21 in each category. In all, in place of 113 IFS cadre posts, there are 164 officers.

On top of it, the head of the forest force, in June this year recommended to the chief secretary to promote at least two dozen officers of and above the rank of conservator of forests. This would mean that some more DCF posts would become vacant and more top ranking officials will occupy chambers at Aranya Bhavan in Bangalore.

State-level officer in AP too

Interestingly, even Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, which shares borders with Bellary, has an ACF functioning as DCF. After IFS officer Kallol Biswas went on leave in March this year, the AP government has posted only a state-level officer. From Bellary, iron ore is transported via Anantapur, to the ports of Andhra Pradesh.