Chandigarh: CM Saini announced that plants will be geo-tagged and drones will monitor for 5 years.
Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh announced that ‘Van Mitras’ will be recruited soon under the ‘Van Mitra’ scheme. These ‘Van Mitras’ will be given honorarium for taking care of the plants. He directed the officials to regularly map the existing plants and the plants to be planted every year under the tree plantation campaign using drones. He said that if there is a delay in extinguishing the fire on forest land, then accountability will be fixed, from forest guards to senior officers.
The Chief Minister was chairing a review meeting of the Forest and Wildlife Department in Chandigarh. On this occasion, he also released a brochure for ‘Pran Vayu Devta Yojana’. Minister of State for Environment, Forestry, and Wildlife Sanjay Singh attended the meeting.
The Chief Minister was told that there is a budget of Rs 20 crore. Rs 150 crore has been allocated for the tree plantation campaign for the years 2024–25. Rs 10 crore will be spent on herbal parks. The Chief Minister was also informed that under the “Pran Vayu Devta” scheme, the state government is planning to provide an annual pension of Rs 2,750 to those who take care of trees older than 75 years. So far, 3,819 such trees have been identified under this scheme.
Chairing the meeting, the Chief Minister said that illegal felling of trees from forest areas will not be tolerated. He reviewed the annual tree plantation drive in the monsoon season, directing that these saplings be geo-tagged and their growth monitored for five years with the help of drones. Naib Singh said that such incidents not only lead to the death of wildlife but also cause the loss of wood worth crores of rupees and also contribute to pollution.
He said that if there is an unnecessary delay in responding to the fire incident, then everyone from forest guards to district-level officers will be held accountable.
CM Nayab Saini directed the departmental officers to ensure the arrangement of water supply from canals or tube wells in national parks like Kalesar, Sultanpur, and other dense forests so that this water can be used by wildlife during extreme heat and can help in extinguishing fire.