Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment, Choudhary Lal Singh inspected the State Forest Research Institute (SFRI) at Sidhra here today and directed to identify the open areas to be developed into green spaces.The Minster instructed the Director, SFRI, B M Sharma, to prepare a comprehensive plan for raising about two crore plants of fruit, ornamental, bougainvillea in the established SFRI nurseries for coming rainy season so that the left out open spaces and road side strips are covered under green cover .Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Ravi Kesar, Commissioner Secretary Forest, Ecology and Environment, Sourab Bhagat, Chief Wildlife Warden ,Manoj Panth, Regional Director Wild Life, Dr V S Sinthil Kumar besides other senior officers of SFRI, Wildlife protection and Soil Water and Conservation accompanied the Minister.“The notion of developing open spaces into green covers needs to be initiated with determination not only by the government or concerned officials but also by the people as it will ultimately benefit each and every individual”, the Minister asserted.Choudhary Lal Singh urged the people to become ‘Green Ambassadors’ as goals of extensive plantation can be attained only with the active participation of people on a large scale.
“Improving biodiversity and living in harmony with nature has been a part of our culture for thousands of years”, the Minister maintained. He advised to plant native trees because they readily adapt to local climate, integrate into the eco-system have a high survival rate and are helpful in supporting local birds, insects and animals. He further said that when an individual plants a tree, a bond is developed between them which inspires the person to take care of that plant and in this manner survival of the plant is ensured.Earlier, the Minister visited Jambu Zoo in Khanpur near Nagrota and reviewed the progress of the ongoing development works of the prestigious project. He instructed the Wildlife Protection Department to plant Bruganvillea plants along the internal link road sides for the beautification of Zoo.He directed the Wildlife Protection department to keep a regular check on executing agencies to ensure the timely completion of the ongoing projects. He said that Government has earmarked Rs. 62 lakh for construction of two reservoirs at Jambu Zoo with the storage capacity of 3 lakh gallon water. He said that after commissioning of both the projects, the water would be utilized for drinking water, irrigation and water fall purposes.Choudhary Lal Singh further instructed the wildlife department to immediately float the tenders for construction of water storage reservoirs, Bore well, Blacktopping of 4 km approach road, artificial water fall, nature interpretation centre, development of parking area, Cafeteria, views points, internal road links to Jambu Zoo and other allied works.
The Minister also directed the Wildlife Department to call tenders for purchase of 6 battery cars for Jambu Zoo and 100 cycles besides 4 battery cars for Jastrota Fort for the convenience of visiting tourists.Calling for need based development and quality work, the Minister stressed on the utilization of allocated funds for various developmental works to the full. He said the officers will be made accountable for implementation of all the programs and schemes in their respective jurisdictions.