Thiruvananthapuram: Bureau of Preca and Anti-Corruption (VACB) conducted a surprise inspection in 71 selected village offices throughout the country to check whether the register containing details of protected trees (royal trees) in each village office was maintained in sequence.
The search for VACB named ‘Operation number seven’ which connotes registering number seven which is also called a tree list, found some deviations that help legal breakers for illegally falling trees from the land assigned.
VACB found that 17 village offices in Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha did not maintain tree registration at all.
It also found that in 12 villages in Wayanad, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, the degree register was not maintained.
The VACB team is especially checked if the application sent by land assignments in the village office has determined the type of tree that can be cut down, whether their names have been listed in documents issued from the village office, whether the location of the sketch is properly prepared, whether the declaration form shows the type Land has been well checked by the forest department and whether the details of the tree that has been cut down from every village limit has been well documented.
The search was based on a report from Sreejith Adgp (crime) where a team investigated illegal tree logging cases in Muttil at Wayanad.
Sudesh Kumar’s vigilance director said that in the village office where Prima Facie deviations had been found, vigilance would continue its inspection in the coming days.
Detailed reports will be immediately handed over to the government, he said.