Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh today directed the concerned authorities to immediately take up fencing work of the open forest land at Sunjwan. He also asked them to take up plantation of fruit plants and develop view points.The Minister gave these directions during his visit to Sunjwan.He said that the steps taken up by the Government to curb encroachment of forest land have proved very fruitful. He directed the forest officers to focus on consolidation of works so that the works taken up could show impact on the ground.He directed upgrading the existing facilities for the visitors and make these places more attractive so that the visitors spend more time there. He said environment parks are the lungs of the Jammu city which need to be equipped with basic amenities, landscaping and plantation of composite species including herbal trees, rain shelters and public utilities.
The Minister also called for creating special recreational facilities for the school children, who visit these parks for excursions etc, without disturbing ecology of the area.Choudhary Lal Singh directed the officers to explore development of more eco-friendly environmental parks in and around Jammu city to attract the large number of tourists visiting Jammu in connection with pilgrimage of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and other revered shrines. He said there is adequate potential in the region which needs to be explored.Director Environment briefed the Minister about the species of herbal and other plants developed in these parks.Later, the Minister also inspected the timber store and sale depot of SFC at Sunjwan.Earlier, the Minister also visited Environmental Park at Raika and reviewed the progress of ongoing works.