Days after the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the Compulsory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) in Uttarakhand was released, the Chief Executive Officer of the body has said they are looking into the issues that have been flagged. The report, which covers the period from 2019-20 to 2021-22, flagged “inadmissible expenditure” made from the total allocated funds of Rs 753.89 crore in 43 forest divisions of the state. But Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and CAMPA CEO Sameer Sinha said that so far, only the purchase of two phones has been found. “The CAG has flagged expenditure of Rs 13.86 crore of the total funds allocated for CAMPA,” said Sinha. “We have only found two mobile phones purchased. Also, there is nothing in the CAMPA rules prohibiting such purchases. The challenge for us is to verify if this expenditure was made vetted by the administration. Purchase and maintenance of equipment or devices used for communication and information technology for the purpose of protection of the forest and wildlife is permissible under the CAMPA rules. I will look into why it has been flagged and why the audit has gone to comment on this. We will check if these purchases are made with the funds earmarked for those purposes.” Sinha said he “begs to differ with how a few matters have been called inadmissible expenditure”. Among them is Harela, a festival celebrated in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to mark the beginning of the monsoon season. “Harela festival is an important social and cultural element of Uttarakhand which promotes awareness and ties people together,” he said. According to the report, Haridwar, Tons, Nainital, and Narendranagar forest divisions spent Rs 3.6 crore for the renovation of existing buildings, Harela, and fencing, which it flagged as “major diversions”. The CAG report had flagged that the Divisional Forest Officer, Kalagarh Tiger Reserve, in Lansdowne division diverted the funds amounting to Rs 1.71 crore under the scheme for the construction of the motor road of the tiger safari, elephant protection wall, repair of the old Forest Rest House, solar fencing, removal of lantana, etc. “This confirms that the scheme was included in the APO without analysis at ground level,” the report said.
