Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh last evening visited Kud in Udhampur district to personally supervise the overnight operations launched in the area to control Forest fire.Immediately after hearing the news of Forest fire at Kud Forest enclosures, the Minister alongwith Principal Chief Conservator of Forests A K Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests Roshan Jaggi besides Divisional Forest Officers of Ramban and Udhampur visited the area and supervised the fire fighting operation which continued for whole night.Later, Choudhary Lal Singh also chaired a meeting of Forest Officers at Kud and directed them to work with utmost, dedication and honesty so that the protection of the green wealth is ensured.Speaking at the meeting, the Minister said he was personally reviewing the situation on daily basis from the concerned headquarters and directions have been issued to field staff for regular patrolling to avoid fire incidents besides timber and firewood thefts.
He also issued strict instructions to the DFOs as well as to the field staff to remain vigilant to control the situation. He also directed them to keep a check and identify elements who may be indulging in setting the forests on fire for ulterior motives.It was informed to the Minister that in last 2 months, around 121 fire incidents took place in various forests of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi and Rajouri districts of Jammu region and the department has been successful in controlling most of these fires in a time period ranging between 2 hours to 10 hours and no major damage has been caused to the forests. Choudhary Lal Singh asked the officers to launch plantation drive for ornamental and medicinal plants alongside the roads of hilly areas with the active support of local people and other stakeholders under Public Private Partnership in monsoon. He said plantation drive would be a regular feature and the department has already identified areas with huge degraded forest land.