Forester shunted over road widening works in Kotagiri

COIMBATORE: A forest range officer in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris has been shunted to Krishnagiri in connection with widening of a road to a private estate owned by Tourism Minister K Ramachandran’s son-in-law inside the reserve forest area.

After an inquiry, forest range officer AMN Siva has been transferred to Hosur for being negligent and failing to prevent illegal road levelling works in Kil Kotagiri in the Nilgiri Forest Division.

The minister’s son-in-law D Siva kumar, 50 had allegedly taken up road works for a stretch of around two kilometers to his private tea estate in Medanad forest area without prior permission from the forest department.

He obtained an anticipatory bail, while estate manager Balakrishnan, 35 besides two drivers of road rollers Umar Farook, 26 from Assam and Pankaj Kumar Singh, 38 from Bihar were arrested by the forest department under Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

The heavy machinery used in the road laying process was also seized by the forest department.