Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday
said it would not tolerate encroachment of forest land and
constituted a committee to check the menace.
"The department will take stern action against those
involved in encroachments in J&K. We should focus on removal
of encroachments from forest lands for maintaining ecological
balance," Minister for Forests and Environment Mian Altaf
Ahmad said while reviewing the functioning of the forest
department of Jammu division here.
He asked officers to judiciously utilise funds provided
under Compensatory Afforestation Planning Authority (CAMPA)
and directed them to complete the projects in time.
After discussions on effective monitoring of forests,
Ahmad decided to constitute a committee comprising forest
officials, eminent persons and locals to ensure better
afforestation drives and checking of encroachment.
Regarding targets achieved during the current financial
year, the Minister was informed that 293,986 cubic feet of
timber was distributed during 2009-10 while 186,318 supplied
during the current year up to November 2010 through various
timber sale depots in the division.
The meeting was also informed that 31.63 lakh saplings
were planted during 2009-10 under National Afforestation
Programme and 3.286 lakh saplings have been planted under
CAMPA covering an area of 1296 hectares.
PTI
