Plantation on Kandarpur-Machagaon Road in Jagatsinghpur. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Feb. 22: The state vigilance department has started probing into the allegations of irregularities in the implementation of the avenue plantation programme on Kandarpur-Machagaon Road in Jagatsinghpur district.

The avenue plantation programme was taken up with grants received under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and donations from Iffco, a Paradip-based fertiliser plant.

But, the plantation drive, undertaken by the state forest department, came a cropper as allegations of large-scale fund bungling marred it.

Probing into the alleged afforestation scam, the vigilance wing of state police has indicted the forest personnel for gross misuse of funds while planting trees along the 23km road.

A grant of Rs 62.35 lakh was sanctioned from the MGNREGS for the plantation project while Paradip-based Iffco fertiliser plant had donated Rs 41.77 lakh as a part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.

The vigilance department has started probing into the alleged irregularities after it received a series of complaints. The inquiry, which is still going on, has found corroborative evidence of fund misuse.

“On the basis of the findings of the inquiry, we have recommended for initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the forest personnel who were in charge of executing the plantation work,” said vigilance inspector Sarat Kumar Sahu.

The probe raised doubts on the official claim on the number of trees planted as part of the roadside plantation project.

The inquiring team also found that the rate of survival of the planted trees was abysmally low as proper care was not taken by the forest department for the growth of the saplings.