Dehradun: In a significant administrative shake-up, the Uttarakhand government has issued a long-awaited transfer list of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, initiating a wide-scale reorganisation of top forest posts across the state. The reshuffle comes shortly after the elevation of Sameer Sinha as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HoFF), and is aimed at streamlining forest governance and operational efficiency.
According to sources, the delay in finalising the list was due to intense deliberations over key postings and central deputations. With this transfer order, the forest department’s leadership structure across field and headquarters has been comprehensively restructured.
“Mr. Sinha will now lead the forest department with a newly reconstituted team,” said an official familiar with the development. “Some reshuffles were also necessary due to the central deputation of senior officers, such as Additional PCCF Nishant Verma, who has joined the CAMPA project in New Delhi.”
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Key Changes at the Top
- Sameer Sinha will continue overseeing CAMPA operations in addition to serving as HoFF.
- SP Subuddhi has been assigned additional charge as PCCF (Forest Conservation & Nodal Officer).
- Ranjan Kumar Mishra has been relieved of the Nodal Officer responsibilities.
- Neena Grewal has been deputed to the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation.
Kahkasha Naseem, formerly Additional Secretary (Forest), has been replaced by Kalyani, who now holds dual charge of Additional Secretary (Forest) and Yamuna Circle. Naseem has been deputed to Watershed (Jalagam).
Restructuring of Divisions and Circles
- Tejaswini Patil has been transferred from her role as CCF and Director (Forest Training) to CCF (Working Plan & Kumaon Chief).
- Sanjeev Chaturvedi, who exposed alleged departmental irregularities in his previous role, has now been appointed CCF & Director, Forestry Training Academy.
- Dheeraj Pandey has been named the new Chief of Garhwal Division.
- Nitish Mani Tripathi becomes CCF, South Circle, replacing TR Biju Lal, who is now Member Secretary, Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board.
- Pankaj Kumar has been appointed CF, Research, and relieved from the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.
- Chandrashekhar Joshi, formerly DFO Nainital, is now In-charge CF, North Kumaon.
District-Level Forest Officer (DFO) Transfers
- Akash Gangwar becomes DFO Nainital, replacing Joshi.
- Vaibhav Kumar, former DFO Haridwar, has been moved to Chakrata.
- Swapnil, ex-DFO Garhwal, now takes charge in Haridwar.
- Diganth Nayak becomes DFO Narendra Nagar, replacing Jeevan Mohan, who now heads Lansdowne.
- Abhimanyu has been transferred from Chakrata to Garhwal.
- Sarvesh Kumar will serve as DFO Kedarnath.
- Dhruv Singh Martolia has been made DFO Ramnagar.
- Tarun S replaces Rahul Mishra as DFO Kalagarh.
- Aditya Ran is appointed DFO Bageshwar.
- Rajat Suman takes over as DFO Rudraprayag.
- Pranali Ramesh is now Deputy Conservator of Forests (Forest Conservation).
Wildlife and Park Assignments
Mahateem Yadav has been shifted from Deputy Director, Rajaji Tiger Reserve, to Deputy Conservator of Forests, Nanda Devi National Park.
Administrative Intent and Political Context
While transfers in the Uttarakhand Forest Department are routine, the breadth and strategic nature of this overhaul suggests a concerted effort to realign forest management priorities under PCCF Sameer Sinha’s leadership. Observers point out that some reshuffles—particularly that of Sanjeev Chaturvedi—were “expected” given recent internal exposes related to forest planning.
The new team, a mix of experienced and emerging officers, is expected to support better conservation efforts, fire and disaster management, working plan formulation, and biodiversity initiatives.
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