West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited ... Out of the woods: forest shuffle ends `anomaly'

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT,  05 Dec 2018, Darjeeling: The state government has transferred 37,000 hectares of forest land under the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited (WBFDCL) to the forest directorate in Kalimpong district, changing a "unique" administrative set-up in vogue since 1974.

Unlike other areas in the state, the forest was largely administered by the WBFDCL in Kalimpong.

The corporation came into existence in 1974 on the recommendation of National Commission of Agriculture and was registered as a company and incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. Large swathes of forest land were leased out to the corporation.

"In other districts, WBFDCL was entrusted with logging and eco-tourism activities but in the Kalimpong the corporation was looking after all forest activities in a unique arrangement," said a source.

Since the corporation had to generate their own funds it was finding it difficult to carry on certain activities, sources said. "Even the strength of the workers in the Kalimpong corporation had come down from around 350-odd to 170-odd employees," said a source.

"In order to bring unifor- mity in forest management, the matter of transfer of territories under the Kalimpong division was under consideration of the Government of West Bengal," a notification of the forest department states.

The WBFDCL will now only take up logging activities and management of ecotourism in places like Shailabas ­ Kalimpong, Lava, Lolegoan, Paren and Mungpong.

R.P. Saini, managing director of the WBFDCL, said: "What has been done has been done rightly and legally and for the better. It was an anomaly that has been corrected. Nowhere in the world does a corporation look after forestry.".