Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environment department fails to recover Rs 33.85 million dues

The Department of Environment, Khyber Pakthunkhwa failed in recovery of government dues of Rs 33.85 million in different heads during financial year 2006-07, said Audit Report on the accounts of the province for financial year 2008-09.
According to the report, the non-recovery of Rs 33.855 million was detected in heads fine, royalty of timbers, government dues, cost of trees, liability and transfer of close accounts to Divisional Forest Officer, outstanding dues, lapsed deposit into government treasury and Rs 1.845 million unauthorised expenditure from frozen accounts. The department is comprised of 58 audit formations, including Protected Area Management Project Chitral, Integrated Natural Resource Management, Sarhad province conservation, natural resource management, forestry sector project and wildlife and fisheries.
The highest amount of Rs 18.637 million was not recovered on account of illegal cutting of trees. According to Environment Department Standing Orders, a fine @ Rs 200/- and Rs 150/- per cft was recoverable on Deodar and Kail respectively.
During the year 2006-07, office of Divisional Forest Officer, Upper Kohistan recovered forest duty and forest development fund from various offenders on cutting 97,310 cft timbers. However, fine @ Rs 200/-per cft on Deodar and Rs 150/- cft on Kail amounting to Rs 18.637 million was not recovered.
It was pointed out in August 2007; the department stated that recovery would be made. The Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) met in December 2008, in which the department briefed that Rs 18.637 million had been recovered. However, no evidence in support of recovery was produced.
In second case, the Divisional Forest Officer, Kohistan had failed to recover Rs 6.723 million from the Forest Development Corporation (FDC) on account of royalty on timber on six different lots in year 2006-07. Similarly, the office of Divisional Forest Officer, Swat failed in recovering Rs 2.904 million from Forest Development Corporation on accounts of various lots and fines against forest offenders. No efforts were made for recovering of the government dues so far.
The office of the Divisional Forest Officer, during the year 2006-07 had failed in recovering an amount of Rs 2.450 million as cost of trees from the Works and Services Department cut for widening of 'Bar Gokand to Kalail Kandow Road' and 'Battai to Bilkand (Kalail) Road'. Over 900 chir trees measuring 24,315 cft valuing Rs 2.450 million were cut for the construction of the roads. However, the department could not recover the same amount from the Project Director Foreign Aided Project Works and Services Department.
Meanwhile the department during 2006-07 also made unauthorised expenditure of Rs 1.845 million from the frozen account. The department of finance have frozen the accounts of All types of accounts of Forest Co-operative Societies, but during the year 2006-07, Rs 1.845 million was drawn from the frozen accounts of the societies by the Managing Directors Co-operative Societies under the jurisdiction of the Divisional Forest Officer, Abbottabad, resulting in unauthorised expenditure.
The department also failed in recovery of liability and transfer of fund from frozen account to the tone of Rs 1.634 million. During the year, 2006-07, in the office of Divisional Forest Officer Battagram, Forest Management Society Batayala Allai Forest was declared defunct in 1993. In violation of the above, liabilities of Rs 315, 932/- were not recovered from the Managing Director of defunct society.
Moreover, Rs 1.318 million as closing balance was also not transferred from the joint account of this society to the special account of Divisional Forest Officer, Hazier Tribal Forest Division Battagram, which resulted in non-recovery of the government dues. Another amount of Rs 1.5071 million was not recovered in head of outstanding dues, non-crediting of lapsed deposit into government treasury and non-recovery of government dues.