Sea buckthorn project delayed in Lahaul and Spiti, laxity by Forest Department alleged

Our Correspodent

Kullu, May 1

Lahaul Spiti Seabuckthorn Association president BD Pasera has alleged that the lackadaisical attitude of the Forest Department has delayed the ambitious project of sea buckthorn cultivation on 2,500 hectares of forest area in Lahaul and Spiti.

He said that a road map for cultivating 30,000 hectares of forestland with sea buckthorn in 10 years in Himachal, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh was prepared at a seminar in Shimla on October 24, 2018. He added that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had approved the project and demanded detailed project reports (DPR) from all states in September 2020.

Pasera said that the Forest Department finalised a project of Rs 104 crore to plant sea buckthorn on 2,500 hectares of forestland in Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur after discussions with scientists, farmers and representative of industries at a seminar held in Sundernagar on February 20, 2021. He added that later Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in his Budget speech stated that the plantation of sea buckthorn would be undertaken on 250 hectares in Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts in five years.

Pasera said that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had approved Rs 1,260 crore for the cultivation of sea buckthorn in the border areas of four states and one union territory. He added that the Central government had provided Rs 1,600 crore under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and Rs 800 crore under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the state government for afforestation.

He alleged that the Forest Department had failed to prepare the DPR for sea buckthorn cultivation on 2,500 hectares of forestland in Himachal and as a result the Central funds approved for the project may lapse.