Less than 24 hours after he was transferred out, Conservator of Forests (south circle), Gurgaon, R P Balwan was reinstated on Saturday morning.

The transfer order was revoked by Saturday morning — Balwan got a fax of the order maintaining status quo, signed by Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (forests department) P K Gupta, around 11.30 am.

Newsline had reported Friday evening’s sudden transfer order, brought in bypassing Haryana’s environment and forest minister Kiran Chaudhary.

Balwan is in the thick of action at present as the issue of illegal mining on the foothills of Aravallis rages on, with several waterbodies in Faridabad and Gurgaon districts already sucked dry or on their way to extinction.

As per Friday evening’s transfer order from the office of Principal Secretary to the Haryana Chief Minister M L Tayal, Balwan was transferred to the “headquarters”, in Chandigarh, though without any immediate posting. According to the order (Newsline has a copy), Indian Forest Service officer M M Joshi was to take charge from Balwan.

Having backed Balwan on Friday, Haryana environment and forest minister Kiran Chaudhary today said this is the third time he was transferred out. “His transfer order was issued twice in the past three years,” she said, “and I refused to transfer him on each occasion. So this time I was not consulted (before the order was issued).”

She added that the Aravallis are an ecologically fragile zone and the damage done to these areas by illegal mining will be “irreparable”.

The Supreme Court had on September 9, 2008 ordered the Conservator of Forests to prepare maps of Aravallis in Haryana, and Balwan is part of the panel constituted by a special committee of the apex court. He is tasked with mapping violation in forest areas of the affected districts among other tasks. Having submitted its report on Faridabad district on January 15, the committee is now preparing the maps and report on Gurgaon, to be submitted on March 15.

Balwan, who retires in 2018, had earlier applied for voluntary retirement from May 30. He had told Newsline on Friday, “I was not due for any transfer, because as per rules an official cannot be transferred in the last two years of his service.”

On Saturday, he said, “Different fronts — starting from developers to government officials — are putting pressure to derail me from the task I have been assigned.”

Balwan had earlier registered an FIR at Sadar police station in Gurgaon on September 17, 2007 when workers of Lakshmi Stone Crushing Company allegedly attacked him and his driver during an inquiry into illegal mining in the district.