Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh: Save the Deodar trees in the Dalai Lama's neighbourhood

Deforestation is a big problem in McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh. The Dalai Lama's home in exile is an earthquake-prone area, (Zone 5, highest risk), as well as one of the wettest places in India. These trees not only provide valuable structural support to the ground, and therefore to the existing buildings and hillsides, but are also an important part of the ecology.

Mcleod has become a construction boom-town over the last few decades and as a result, a lot of illegal felling of trees has taken place within the town itself, and its forested environs.

The law is clear in the state of Himachal Pradesh - NO green trees are permitted to be cut, whether they are on private, municipal or public land. Permission to chop from the Forest Dept. can only be sought and obtained if the tree(s) endanger life or property.

Yet powerful individuals have flagrantly broken this law by obtaining fraudulent permission to cut trees for ‘endangered structures' that have not even been built !!, or alternatively, by obtaining permission to cut 1 or 2 trees and then going on to cut many, many more.

Since several articles have recently been published in the Tribune newspaper, high-lighting this environmental criminality, the Chief Minister has intervened and ordered an inquiry into the illegal felling, and has mandated that it be completed in 7 days.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/cm-orders-inquiry-seeks-report-in-7-days/82712.html

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/permission-for-cutting-of-deodar-trees-found-faulty/81375.....

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/rampant-felling-of-deodar-trees-on-in-mcleodganj-dharamkot....

So as an area of high earthquake risk and high erosion/landslide risk which is due to the regular heavy monsoons and accelerating deforestation, a place of diverse flora and fauna, a popular tourist destination, and a haven for one of the most beloved of world leaders - the Dalai Lama, we urge you to make sure that this inquiry leaves no stone un-turned and that ALL the culprits are brought to justice.

Money and political influence should have no bearing on what questions are asked and to whom. We want an end to the fraudulent permissions being granted to the land owners and developers.
With your help we can save our precious forest. Please sign and share this petition.