From Our Correspondent
Agartala: Tripura forest resources are not being utilized properly as there is an absence of policy and planning at the national level, said Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury on Saturday.
He was speaking at the regional level technical workshop on Green India Mission organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forest at Pragna Bhawan here on Saturday.
“Tripura has lot of forest resources and we are working on it with the active participation of people for the enhancement of their livelihood”, he added.
“The projected area of mission, which has a target to increase about 5 million hectares new forest areas with quality improvement another 5 million hectares forest covered area, should be extended for the betterment of forest households”, the Minister said.
In his speech, Dr PJ Dilip Kumar, Director General of Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, informed, “a preparatory budget of Rs 200 crore has already been sanctioned for the annual action programme”.
“Now, we have to start initiative for implementing the mission that would expand the forest areas, improve the ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration, and increase forest-based livelihood income for three million forest-dependent families of the country”, he pointed out.
Chief Secretary Dr SK Panda threw light on the success-stories that have been achieved through three-tier Panchayat system here.
He also marked some obstacles that were faced during work.
PCCF Dr RL Srivastava listed out the attempts undertaken by his department as well as the state government and screened a presentation.
The mission will be implemented through an autonomous organizational structure reducing red-tape and rigidity while ensuring accountability. Forest officials from north eastern states including Sikkim and West Bengal attended the meeting.