Andhra Pradesh government shifter principal chief conservator of forests A V Joseph and appointed him chairman biodiversity board, an ornamental position which has no major activity. The post is normally reserved for a professor or retired officer. The shifting Joseph took place at a time when the state government is planning to get about 50 thousand acres of forest land denotified for capital Amaravati region to make room for the proposed industrial corridors. The Capital region expanding like balloon, which is now planned to be build in about 8200 sqkm. As chief minister Naidu wants it to be a world class capital, the Amavati region is eating into the forest lands as the farmers are on warpath against the government land acquisition program. So, Naidu is eying on the denotification forest. Naidu’s massive plantation program launched under Neeru Chettu is to show the centre that compensatory planting of saplings is done and loss forest would be taken care of once saplings grow into trees.
And in the place of Joseph, a junior officer, SBL Mishra has been posted. Mishra is father of IAS officer Kartikeya Mishra, who is ruling roost in Industries department and is a blue-eyed boy of a young leader, who became an extra constitutional authority in Andhra Pradesh of late.
According to grapevine, the reason for shifting Joseph is that he was opposed to the proposal to denoting the forest land. There has been hue and cry against the proposal, which chief minister Naidu public announced some time back. Environmentalists such as EAS Sarma have already written to PM about the devastating effect the capital causing on ecology of the region. He asked the centre not at accede to the forest-land denitrification. So, notwithstanding the opposition from the public, the officer in charge of forests in AP should be able to send the devastating proposal the centre. Grapevine says Mishra will be cajoled to send the proposal to the centre as quid pro quo to his elevation to the post.
Is Mishra so blind to the ecological devastation the denitrification of forest land would cause? Let us keep our fingers crossed that Mishra doesn’t do it.
