Chandigarh, November 9
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has approved the proposal for “Greening Authority” to increase the green cover in the state. “We have finalised the structure of the authority.The process is on to notify it. The chairman will be Chief Minister and vice-chairman Minister for Forests”, said Rajinder Bhandari, Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board, here today. The authority will have its offices at all district headquarters.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has approved the proposal for “Greening Authority” to increase the green cover in the state. “We have finalised the structure of the authority.The process is on to notify it. The chairman will be Chief Minister and vice-chairman Minister for Forests”, said Rajinder Bhandari, Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board, here today. The authority will have its offices at all district headquarters.
Punjab is among the states with the lowest forest cover, a mere 6 per cent whereas the national policy is to have at least 33 per cent of land under forest or tree cover. The area under natural forests in the state is about 4 per cent. Over the years, people have cut trees to bring more and more area under cultivation to grow more foodgrain. “We are much concerned at the depleting forest cover over the past few decades”, said Bhandari. “At present various departments-Forest Department, improvement trusts, municipal committees/corporations and the Punjab Urban Development and (PUDA- and some NGOs and religious organisations are engaged in tree plantation”, he said. However, there was no coordination among them. The ‘Greening Authority’ would act as a coordinator, from planting saplings to post-plantation care, he said.
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