HC seeks action report on Tauli tree felling, social boycott

Dehradun: Uttarakhand high court has sought an action-taken report from state govt on alleged illegal felling of trees in Tauli gram sabha in Vikas Nagar area of Dehradun district and the alleged social boycott of villagers who complained against it. The court asked govt to file a detailed reply within two weeks, specifically explaining what steps were taken after the complaint submitted by villagers on Jan 20 and after the forest department’s inquiry report. The court will hear the matter again after two weeks.A division bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay heard the public interest litigation filed by six villagers, including Gopal Singh and Vinod Kumar Chauhan. The petitioners said a large number of trees were felled in the village in Jan, following which they approached forest department officials and sought an investigation.The petitioners said the divisional forest officer later conducted an inquiry and confirmed that 54 trees had been felled, while 29 others had suffered serious damage due to excessive lopping of branches. “The inquiry confirmed that 54 trees were felled and 29 trees were seriously damaged due to excessive lopping,” the petitioners submitted, adding that the affected trees included peepal, mango and other species.The PIL alleged that despite the inquiry report, no concrete action was taken against those responsible for the felling. It further alleged that after the six villagers opposed the tree cutting, a resolution was passed in the gram sabha against them, imposing a fine and organising their social boycott at the village level.During the hearing, the bench expressed concern over both sets of allegations and asked state govt to explain the response of the administration and departments concerned. “What action has been taken after the complaint and the inquiry report?” the court asked, while directing govt to submit its reply within two weeks.