THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, June 23: The Harihurganj Community Health Centre (CHC) and the local forest office are at loggerheads. The two have their own accusation and pleas. Neither of two sides are ready to agree to each other.
A plantation brawl has broken out between the CHC Harihurganj and local forest office in Palamu district over the past few weeks.
The local forest office has asked the Harihurganj CHC for compensation for its gabians lost or stolen which the forest office has set up for the safety of the plantations carried out here last year. The plantations were done here in the year 2024.
Forest guard Ajay Kumar Sao told this correspondent, “We took NoC from the CHC Harihurganj. Then we did 250 plantations here.”
“Now our many gabians are either lost or stolen. The CHC owes compensation for it to the forest office,” the forest guard said.
Also Read- Samajwadi Party expels 3 MLAs for backing BJP in Rajya Sabha polls
Missing Gabians Acknowledged, But Sapling Claims Challenged
On the other hand, the medical officer in charge of the Harihurganj CHC Dr Gopal Prasad said, “The forest office did obtain from us the NoC. But we have no idea as to how many plantations were done with gabians.”
“The local forest office ought to have given us a list of the species of the plantations done along with the number of the gabians put up but it didn’t do anything like this”, reiterated the medical officer in charge Dr Prasad. It’s one gabian per plantation. Gabians are the protective shield for the upcoming plants.
On being asked by this correspondent if gabians are lost or stolen to which the medical officer in charge conceded, “Around 10 gabians have gone missing. It is suspected that some unidentified people have stolen it.”
Civil Surgeon Questions Forest Dept’s Plantation Figures
Civil Surgeon of Palamu Dr Anil Kumar said, “I have directed the medical officer in charge to give a written intimation to the local Harihurganj police about the missing or theft of the 10 gabians by the unidentified people.”
However, Civil Surgeon countering the claim of the forest office that it had planted 250 samplings said, “It’s a mere exaggeration and far from the ground reality.”
First, the length and breadth of the land of which the NoC was given by the CHC at Harihurganj to the forest office doesn’t suffice for plantation of as many as 250 saplings as claimed by the forest office.
Two, the forest office never gave the CHC the exact number of the species planted with the gabians.
Three, the forest office is incapable itself in explaining as to how its claimed plantation so died or withered or why the forest personnel couldn’t save the saplings from dying.
Four, the forest office never bothered to upkeep its own plantations. It has no answer to the fatalities of the saplings.
Also Read- NLCIL bags project to develop battery energy storage systems in Tamil Nadu
“The Harihurganj CHC definitely owes the missing or theft of 10 gabians. But the moot point is what about the fate of the claimed 250 plantations? Where are these?” quipped the Civil Surgeon.
“We will not be unreasonable to believe that such a number of plantations, say 250, was never done and in the meantime 10 gabians got missing or stolen has given forest office here to raise hue and cry over its gabians, maintaining conspicuous silence over the fatalities of the saplings,” charged the Civil Surgeon.
Civil Surgeon said, “I have directed the medical officer in charge Dr Prasad to sort out this matter amicably.”
Sources said the green drive was launched here in advance for a visit of the higher officials.
The distrust that has set in between health and forest offices here in Harihurganj is a very unhappy situation from which both sides should try to remove the distrust.
