UP orders probe against DM

The Akhilesh Yadav government has ordered an inquiry against district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kinjal Singh, who has been accused by the forest staff at the Dudhwa National Park of breaking rules and misbehaviour. UP forest minister Tej Narain Pandey ordered the probe after the Federation of Forest Association (FFA) staged a dharna demanding action against the district magistrate and even threatened to close the park if immediate action was not taken against the district magistrate.

The FFA also sent a letter in this regard to the chief minister. Ms Singh, however, has denied the charges and said that the charges against her were baseless and a result of some measures taken by her against the forest staff who had been indulging in corruption.

The forest staff, in their complaint, had alleged that Ms Singh often arrived with her convoy at the park at night, when vehicular movement is prohibited, and plays loud music which disturbs the wildlife in the park.

“She misbehaves with the staff, uses abusive language and mentally tortures the employees. She also pollutes the park by throwing waste plastic around,” the FFA said.

The Dudhwa National Park is located on the UP-Nepal border and is considered a sensitive point for infiltration. The park has a staff of about 50 persons which makes management difficult.

Ms Kinjal Singh, meanwhile, told reporters that she had checked illegal felling of trees in the Dudhwa Park and this had annoyed the forest staff that had been minting money through this.

She said that she had been making surprise inspection trips to the Dudhwa which prompted the staff to levy allegations against her.