CM, Dhumal exchange heated words on tree felling, BJP stages walkout - Hindustan Times
With the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) keeping up its diatribe against the ruling Congress on the issue of axing of trees, the state assembly was witness to an angry exchange of words between chief minister Virbhadra Singh and former... The noisy scenes stated when senior BJP leaders Ravinder Singh Ravi - time and again - tried to raise a point of order to take up the issue of large-scale tree felling in Chamba's Almi beat. Pandemonium prevailed in the House when the speaker allowed chief minister Virbhadra Singh to make a statement related to a government report that verified illicit tree-felling in Chamba's Almi beat. All opposition members raised slogans against forest minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri with some alleging that the government had attempted to push the matter under the carpet. The CM alleged that it was only during BJP CM Prem Kumar Dhumal's regime that the axed trees were marked in Almi forest beat. Defending forest minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Singh said soon after receiving information of illicit felling, the government had conducted an inquiry. "The state government has taken action as an FIR had been lodged against three forest department officials and the Himachal Forest Development Corporation, who are under suspension. Source: www.hindustantimes.com
