- Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim
The Minister of Forest & Environment Department – Karma Loday Bhutia spoke extensively about the strict measures undertaken by the state administration to address the ongoing issue of alleged land invasion by IPCA Pharmaceutical company in Melli under Namchi district.
Addressing a press conference, Bhutia asserted that the press conference-cum-interaction programme was convened to address the ongoing issue of alleged land encroachment in a transparent manner.
The Forest minister was accompanied by ACS-cum-PCCF Forest – M.L. Shrivastava and senior officials of the Department, Secretary Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department, DC Namchi, and representatives of IPCA Pharmaceuticals in South Sikkim.
He emphasized that once the situation was brought to light, the Forest Department acted promptly.
Besides, a joint field tour was conducted to obtain a better understanding of the situation on the ground and to hear the opinions of all parties involved.
The CF (Territorial) – Karma Legshey delivered a presentation outlining the circumstances that led to the current scenario, since an individual filed an RTI on March 22, 2022.
He stated that the Forest Department had been working on the case since January, two months prior to the RTI being filed.
Subsequently, the DFO (Territorial) of Namchi – Peggyla Tshering informed about the actions undertaken by the Forest Department since the month of January, 2022.
She informed the house that the Range Officer (Melli) had taken notice of the IPCA pharmaceutical company’s illegal muck dumping without prior permission, and a case has been registered against the company on January 20, 2022, and that the work had been immediately halted, along with the vehicles and materials had been seized.
