Former head of forest force (HoFF) Munish Kumar Garg is likely to be the new chairman of State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority – the body which gives environment clearances to mega infrastructure projects including mining in state.
This will be for the first time an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer will be occupying the position in Rajasthan. Earlier senior retired IAS officers would hold this position. The previous chairman was former chief secretary of Rajasthan Rajeeva Swarup.
Garg, a 1988 batch IFS officer superannuated in May this year as head of forest force. He is considered as a bold and intelligent officer.
A B.Tech from IIT, Garg has served in union government in the ministry of urban development and housing (UDH) on deputation.
Garg was HoFF when additional chief secretary to chief minister Shikhar Agrawal was additional chief secretary forest, environment and climate change.
According to sources, the state government has recommended Garg's name for SEIAA chairman to union ministry of forest, environment and climate change, which is likely to give its approval soon.
Munish Garg's brother was also SEIAA chairman of Uttar Pradesh
It is a coincidence that Munish Kumar Garg's elder brother Dr Rajiv Kumar Garg had also served as SEIAA chairman of Uttar Pradesh. He was a 1984 batch IFS officer who served as PCCF & HoFF in Uttar Pradesh. He was appointed in June 2021 for a fixed term of three years. But he left after serving one year and seven month. He is currently working as senior advisor tourism in Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Limited.
IFS officers likely to occupy all three key positions
This will be for the first time all the three key positions of SEIAA – chairman, member and member secretary are likely to be occupied by all IFS officers.
According to sources, Manphool Singh, a retired 2006 batch IFS promoted from state forest services, is likely to be the member of SEIAA. This will be again for the first time, a promotee IFS will be in the panel of the authority.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
