In order to mobilize the people of Faridkot Division against the falling ground water level and decreasing area under forests in Punjab, Divisional Commissioner Faridkot Mr. Chander Gaind has taken an interesting and good initiative for arms license holders/renewals.
In this regard, Commissioner Mr.Chander Gaind has written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Faridkot, Bathinda and Mansa and instructed that anyone who wants the new arms license or renewal of an existing would have to plant five saplings.
He said the one would have to submit a selfie with each planted sapling at the time of filling of an application adding he said that after a period of one month, before moving the application for police clearance and Dope Test, the applicant need to furnish the fresh status of the planted trees by submitting new selfies with the grown up trees.
He said that with this, while planting trees will be mandatory for those who want to take license, there will be an increase in the number of trees and the area under forests will increase.
Divisional Commissioner Gaind told that if the applicant does not find the space for planting the sapling, he can plant the sapling in public places educational institutes and religious shrines and along the roadside but he has to ensure proper upkeep.
He also appealed to plant only those sapling that have low absorption of water to contribute towards Jal Shakti Abhiyan, and suggested that these varieties may be of Amla, Neem, Babool, Seesham etc but certainly not of eucalyptus type species.
It is worthwhile to mention that even before this, Divisional Commissioner Faridkot Mr. Chander Gaind had made important contribution in environmental conservation by making such initiatives during his tenure as Divisional Commissioner Patiala and Deputy Commissioner Ferozepur which was appreciated everywhere.