NAGPUR, April 5: The Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested three persons and booked 12 others, including some senior forest officials, accusing them of irregularities of over Rs 35 lakh in the Gorewada-Ambazari afforestation scam on Friday.The forest officials have been charged with flouting rules and conniving with private suppliers and Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVM) officials in committing various irregularities including submission of fake price lists for sand, soil, gravel and seeds, favouring relatives for transportation of saplings, not keeping proper records and giving fake receipts for non-existent supplies.Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior ACB official said: "The Forest officials used their contacts in the MAVM to make the latter purchase seeds and other material from the private suppliers and then purchased the same from the MAVM, perhaps thinking that there would be no objection to procurement from a government agency". According to him, neither did the MAVM call for anytenders for the purchase of seeds and nor did it procure the seeds from poor and needy women or any women's voluntary organisation.In 1990, a Rs 5.8 crore afforestation project was mooted for creating a green belt area in about 2,623 hectares of land in the Gorewada and Ambazari catchment areas. The scheme, on the lines of the Social Foresty projects, provided for plantation of trees over a period of four years. However, over five years back, the scheme sparked off a major controversy following allegations of large-scale bungling.The Government had then directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to conduct a probe into the charges. However, little progress was made in the next two years. Subsequently, the investigations were handed over to the ACB in 1996-end.This includes misappropriation of State funds of over Rs 4 lakh and a loss of another Rs 4.5 lakh owing to deals closed by the suspected officials.According to official sources, the bungling of funds is likely to total Rs 35 lakh asthe forest department has claimed an expenditure of Rs 4.5 crore for ``planting'' 30 lakh saplings over a period of two-and-half years. This amount includes the cost of purchase of saplings and their maintenance. As much as Rs 34 lakh is reported to have been spent on ensuring water supply to the saplings. The process of verification will continue, added the sources.The senior ACB official claimed that the ambitious scheme had turned out to be a miserable flop. "A mere look at the project sites in Gorewada and Ambazari confirms our apprehension as these areas continue to remain barren," he said.Among those booked by the ACB yesterday were Deputy Conservators of Forest S D Sathe, S S Mishra, V R Singh, Assistant Conservator U G Kadlag, retired Range Forest Officer B B Tiwari, Forester P K Dayyamwar, Divisional Manager of (MAVM) P P Deosarkar, his predecessor P K Lande and seven private suppliers Nemichand Pugalia, his two sons Rajesh and Sanjay, Suresh Sipani, Sadanlal Phulsunge, Ram Narayan Gaokar andRajesh Tiwari.
