Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, Ch Lal Singh today said that Jammu and Kashmir has 7.5% of total forest cover which further needs focused attention for increasing as well as conserving this green gold.The Minister said this while inaugurating Timber Sale Depots(TSD) at village Janglote, Budhi and Bakhta of Kathua kandi area. The depots will be operated by State Forest Corporation and this is for the first time that the Forest Department has started providing timber to people living in villages.The Minister said that plantation done along the roads and industrial area will help in reducing carbon emission and told the farmers that regulating wood cutting in arid areas is the need of the hour as trees play an important role in agriculture and allied activities so it is mandatory for every stakeholder of the society to conserve and plant trees for sustenance of life on Earth.Several delegations also met the Minister during his tour and apprised him of their demands including repair of roads, fencing around religious places, conservation of natural water bodies, augmentation of PHE infrastructure, interlinking of ponds and way out from monkey menace in kandi areas.
Ch Lal Singh gave them a patient hearing and assured them that their genuine problems will get resolved within a short period of time. On the issue of wreck caused by monkeys in kandi area the Minister said that when animals are unable to get food from forests they tend to move to other habitations causing man-animal conflict. He informed that the Forest department has planted variety of fruit trees in the forest area so that animals and birds retrieve to their natural habitats.The Minister directed ACD Kathua to undertake the work of removing weeds from Forest under MGNREGA and encouraged people to plant more trees in and around their surroundings.Lal Singh also underscored various initiatives launched by the present dispensation to boost tourism in Ranjit Sagar Lake of Basohli by launching steamers, construction of tourist huts and improving road connectivity which will further help in improving the socio-economic status of the native residents. He also told that the government is deliberating upon starting transportation through waterways which will start new and cheap mode of transportation benefitting people of J&K as well as neighboring Punjab.