IFS officer red-flags ‘country's costliest' Miyawaki project
Dehradun: A proposal by Dehradun forest division to implement a Miyawaki plantation at an estimated cost of Rs 52 lakh per hectare raised serious concerns, prompting whistleblower Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi to call for an immediate probe into the unusually high expenditure.
In a letter sent in April 2025 to the head of forest force Dhananjai Mohan, Chaturvedi, currently chief conservator of forests (research wing), termed the cost "potentially the highest in the country for such a project". He flagged a proposed 18,333 sapling purchase cost of Rs 100 each for three years, compared to the forest department's research wing's standard rate of Rs 10 for saplings grown in nurseries.
Chaturvedi Miyawaki initiative in Kalsi, Dehradun, received praise from the former director general of forests of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, CP Goyal, in 2023.
As part of that project, which addressed soil erosion issues, 9,000 saplings of 70 native species were grown on over one hectare at a cost of around Rs 14 lakh. He also flagged a similar proposal in the Mussoorie forest division, where the plan included planting 7-8 ft tall saplings worth Rs 100-400 each.
That project, pegged at Rs 4.25 crore over five years, was deemed "scientifically flawed and financially excessive".
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Chaturvedi recommended limiting it to 2 hectares and suggested six alternative sites of 1 hectare each in Mussoorie.
In response, Uttarakhand forest minister Subodh Uniyal assigned senior officer Kapil Lal to investigate the matter. "In Dehradun, preliminary work like pit digging and manure application was done. In Mussoorie, funds were surrendered on March 31 and saplings were not purchased. An inquiry is underway," Uniyal said on Thursday.
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