PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed the State administration to prepare plans for giving an impetus to eco-tourism activities near the forest areas of Uttarakhand. He was addressing the 21st meeting of the State Wildlife Board at the State secretariat on Thursday.
In the meeting the CM directed the officers of the Forest department to work in the direction of linking forest wealth with the livelihood of the people and conservation of forests.
He said that an extensive plan for the next 10 years should be prepared while striking a balance between the ecology and economy. The CM directed the officers to implement the digital trekking system to distribute fast disbursal of compensation in the cases involving man- animal conflict.
Dhami said that construction work of Zoo and Wildlife Safari in Haldwani should be expedited. He said that efforts should be made to increase revenue collection from the forest rest houses while keeping in mind the facilities for the tourists.
The CM also directed the department officers to expedite renovation work of Chaurasi Kutia. He suggested that efforts should be made to link forests with the economy by taking innovative measures in the State which is replete with diversity of forests. The CM said that the Forest and Finance departments should work in coordination for the purpose.
In the meeting chaired by the CM, approval for 25 decisions of transfer of forest lands were given. These proposals will now be sent to the National Wildlife Board.
The CM was informed that more 75,000 monkeys have been castrated in the last three years. A target to castrate 40,000 monkeys in 27 forest divisions has been taken by the department this year. The department distributed a compensation of Rs 19.55 crore to the affected families of man- animal conflict in the year 2024-25. The officers also informed that four new eco-tourism zones have been formed in the State in the year 2024.
Forest minister Subodh Uniyal said that Uttarakhand is a State which is important due to its biodiversity. He stressed on the need for working continuously for correct usage of forest wealth and linking it with livelihood. Uniyal also emphasised on developing new destinations in the State.
MLAs Banshidhar Bhagat, Diwan Singh Bisht, principal secretary RK Sudhanshu, director general Police Deepam Seth, principal chief conservator of forest Dhananjay Mohan and other officers attended the meeting.
