Encroachments on 7K acres removed: Minister

Jalandhar, November 10

State Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot on Sunday said encroachments on over 7,000 acres of forest land in the state had been removed and the vacated land was being developed as forest area.

Addressing a press conference at the Circuit House, the minister said the state government had initiated a drive against illegal possession to lift encroachments from forest land since its inception. He said the state’s forest cover had increased by six per cent.

In the coming months, the department is going to develop another large chunk of land under encroachment in Pathankot district and plantation will be carried out on the entire land, he said.

The minister claimed that the department had already been carrying out a plantation drive on cleared lands. The removal of encroachment from forest land would continue till the removal of the last encroachment.

He said as a tribute to Guru Nanak Dev on the 550th Parkash Purb, a special drive had been planned by the state government and 76 lakh saplings had already been planted in the state. He said panchayats had been given plants by the department and residents had also been provided with saplings through the ‘i-Hariyali’ app under the ‘Tandarust Punjab’ mission.

Congress leaders Ashok Gupta and Yashpal Dhiman were among those others present. — TNS