- Says forest land will be protected at every cost
RAJOURI: Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology, Ch. Lal Singh today convened a meeting with all the officers and officials of Forest Department of Rajouri and Poonch district at Rajouri.  Threadbare discussions were made regarding various schemes launched by the government to increase the green cover and protection of existing forest.
Underscoring on the importance of forest cover, the Minister said, "The fact that forest land is shrinking is a cause of concern as most of the problems are precipitating from the shrinkage of forest land, adding he said "Encroachment is one of the reasons leading to shrinking of forest land". In this context he called upon the forest officers to put 'protection of forest land' into their agenda of priorities.
"Our development should not be at the cast of destruction of the environment and we should remember to hand over to our coming generations a clean and green environmentâ he said. The Minister asked the forest officers to identify challenges posing dangers to forest, the sources of such challenges and to develop a mechanism to counter them for the protection and conservation of forests and wild lives.
Interacting with the forest officers, the Minister emphasized for assessment of forest properties and formulating a working plan for protecting the same. Terming that a good relation between forest officials and the people living in fringe areas is vital for the protection of forest and wild life, the Minister asked the Forest officers to build a synergy with the local people who can serve as a deterrent against forest related crimes.
He also asked the officers and officials to work innovatively to create employment avenues for the local youths besides he emphasized on winning the hearts of the people living along the fringe areas so as to create a shield against forest related crimes. District Forest Officer Rajouri, Mushtaq Choudhary District Forest Officer Poonch, Anwar Altaf Shah, Deputy Director Forest Protection Force, Naveed Iqbal besides all other forest officers and officials of the twin districts were present in the meeting.