B D Sharma
The other day Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for the establishment of AIIMS at Vijaypur in Samba district of our State. Some portion of the land upon which this Institute is being established takes me to the mid eighties of last century when I was posted as Tehsildar Samba. The land under reference had over the years been reclaimed from the Devak nullah when a ‘bund’ and a bridge were constructed as part of laying of the Jammu Pathankot national highway immediately after Independence. ‘Ka’i and Khad-Kana’ along with other shrubs had grown over the reclaimed land to give it such a look as would enamor the legendary Dev Anand to picturize some of the sequences on the wandering Swami with the ever green SD Burman number ‘Wahan kaun hey Tera Musafir.. ‘ of his famous movie, Guide in the background.
This piece of State land belonged to the Revenue Department but had later on been handed over to the Forest Department who had grown a number of Shisham and other trees on it over the years. Gradually herbs and sheaths of grass had also grown on it and thus a layer of soil had been formed there. Though the land was somewhat vulnerable to the floods from Devak nullah yet it enjoyed a locational advantage being situated near the national highway.
In view of this reason, some displaced persons of 1971 Indo-Pak war from Chhamb who hadn’t as yet got agricultural land alloted in their favour for their rehabilitation, despite lapse of some ten years, approached the Divisional Commissioner Jammu to get this land alloted to them. In order to study the suitability of the land and sorting out the matter with the Forest Department, the Divisional Commissioner undertook a visit for spot inspection along with a retinue of senior officers of Revenue and Rehabilitation, Forest and other allied departments. I along with the other concerned Tehsil level officers was obviously in attendance during the tour of the senior officers. In the course of discussions on spot, the Div Com inquired of the willingness of the Forest Department to spare the land in question. Sheikh Ghulam Rasool was holding the post of Div Com then and as he commanded a lot of respect and authority so no officer of any department would dare to put spokes in his wheel. As such the senior Forest Officers accompanying him readily agreed to hand the land back to Revenue Department for allotment to the displaced persons. However, in the meantime the local Range Officer sprung out suddenly and started arguing forcefully with the Divisional Commissioner that the land in question has a large number of trees who have been nurtured like children by him and his staff and these trees would meet their untimely end if the land is allotted for agricultural purposes. Everybody was stunned over the strange behavior of the Range Officer because in the official decorum a subordinate officer is not supposed to give his opinion unless and until the same is sought. His, somewhat boisterous arguments with the Div Com in the presence and over the head of his superiors was, as such, an act of impropriety. Otherwise also one had to muster a lot of courage to argue with the all powerful Div Com. But all these niceties were alien to Mr Som Nath Bhardwaj , the Range Officer in question. Since Samba was still part of Jammu district and I being the senior most Tehsil level officer, was responsible for getting the tour of the Div Com conducted smoothly so I felt embarrassed over the behavior of Mr Som Nath and tried to pacify him. However before I could do so, the Conservator of Forests and DFO had stepped in to make their subordinate officer understand that he should refrain from making objections to the proposal as the Government required the land for an urgent purpose but the irrepressible Som Nath was not made of the material as would yield so easily to the commands of his superiors and stood his ground firmly.
The Div Com deliberated over the matter dispassionately and found logic in the arguments of the Range Officer. Apart from the involvement of large number of trees ,the flood protection works would have also been adversely effected if the land had been put to agricultural use. The Div Com accordingly decided to drop the proposal and directed me to look for some other land for the rehabilitation of the displaced persons.
It may not be out of place to mention that at that time so much concern was not being shown over the environmental issues and neither had the Supreme Court set its watchful eyes on the preservation of trees/ forests so the vigilance of the employees only helped in their protection and preservation.
After some years, however the scenario had changed, the commitment of a Som Nath was lacking in the Government machinery. This resulted in giving an opportunity to some people to manage and take a possession of this piece of land. Some of the trees so fondly nurtured by some conscientious employees of the Forest Department, also started to disappear gradually from there.
Some time back the Government decided to set up the prestigious medical Institute at Vijaypur and this piece of land has also been included in the proposed site. It took a lot of effort and time by the authorities to take back the land from the persons who were in possession. It is understood a seasoned officer Arun Manhas was specifically posted as Additional Dy Com to retrieve the possession which was ultimately accomplished. Since the Institute is being established for the larger benefit of the society, so this piece of land ended up ultimately for a beneficial use. Some trees however still remain there and it will be a tribute to the employees of the Forest department, who nurtured them if the construction work for the Medical Institute is carried out in such a manner as may ensure that the still remaining trees are allowed to stand and charm the ambience of the place.
The short journey of this piece of land and trees planted on it gives a lot of fodder to the thinking people as to how even the lowly placed officials play a vital part in the preservation of the trees and the forested lands even under trying circumstances. But the time has drastically changed and a sense of lethargy has either crept in the official machinery or it has been incapacitated to act. This has lead to the irreparable damage to our forest resources. The Courts and the Green Tribunal have remained the last refuge to ensure preservation of our forests/ environment. As against some spirited lower rung officials, some of the people sitting in the higher echelons of the Government found themselves so much cornered recently as to issue directions to one agency of the Government to render assistance to the other agencies in removing the encroachments from the State/Forest lands only after observing a somewhat cumbersome and a tedious procedure. Such instructions send a wrong signal to the officers on ground and act at best as dampener to their efforts, which are already few and far between, in removing the encroachments. This all will end up in an irreparable deterioration to the health of our forests and environment.
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