2 weeks Ago
Authorities have failed to take action two months after the illegal felling of around 60 trees on panchayati land in Balad Kalan village in Sangrur district. The incident, which occurred between February 1 and 12, has drawn attention after it was brought before the Punjab and Haryana high court in March. Complainants Amrik Singh, Jaswinder Kaur and Ranjit Kaur, a member of the gram panchayat, allege that sarpanch Gurpreet Singh and panchayat member Rampal Singh were responsible for the illegal tree cutting.
They claim the accused falsely presented permission for the action, while the block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) Lenin Garg failed to intervene despite knowing about the situation. The divisional forest officer (DFO) said that the land in question did not fall under their jurisdiction and no proper assessment of the felled trees had been conducted. Sarpanch Gurpreet Singh has denied the allegations calling the claims of 60 trees being cut “baseless.
” “The trees were felled by members of the Scheduled Caste community,” he said. Garg confirmed that the land in question, which was allotted to the SC community in 2012, is under their possession. While admitting that the tree cutting was illegal, he said that there were disputes between the sarpanch and the complainants.
Deputy commissioner Sandeep Rishi said that a probe was on and appropriate action will be taken. The court has demanded responses from the BDPO and the sarpanch by April 24..
