Ranchi, July 25: Chief Secretary Raj Bala Verma directed to shift all saw mills falling under 5 km diameter of forest area.
She said to determine how many saw mills are being operated under forest areas and how many need to be relocated. Presently only 404 saw mills have been issued license by the govt. She directed all the DFOs to ascertain that no saw mill is in operation under 5 km diameter in their area and certify it within a week.
She said that encroachment should be dealt on priority basis. The department informed the CS that 2139.6371 hectare land has been identified as encroached and out of it, 103 acres have been freed. It was also told that the no. of forest cases is 917 and out of it, 384 are BPL cases. She directed to priotize encroachment in urban areas and open all the forest case records and examine them on weekly basis.
The CS directed the department to develop forest regeneration site and identify such places in all commissionaires where regeneration can be done. She also directed to make long term planning of 5 wild life sanctuaries through mapping to accommodate all forest animals. The department told her that 9 applications have been received for making DPR and APR regarding planning and management.
The Department told the CS that under CAMPA, steering committee has already been authorized to make 36,400 forest posts and the annual work scheme has been sent to Govt. of India. It was also reported by the department that Rs. 144 cr has been approved by the Govt. of India but the fund has not been released yet.
Principal Secretary, Forest Sukhdeo Singh and officials of PCCF and Wildlife were present in the meeting.