 "Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, chief, Himachal Congress campaign committee")
The Himachal Pradesh government has started an initiative to restore degraded forest landscapes for which the forest department has identified more than 256 hectares of barren forest land in all 12 districts, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Tuesday.
He was presiding over the first meeting of the governing body of the Himachal Pradesh State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (HP CAMPA).
"Instead of raising plantations in a sporadic manner, it should be done in a planned manner on the barren hills and other large open patches in a phased manner in the entire state," he said in the meeting.
Sukhu said the plantation should be done keeping in mind the suitable climatic conditions.
The forest department has identified such areas in all the 12 districts of the state covering more than 256 hectares of barren forest land along with a five-year maintenance period with a proposed outlay of around Rs. 8.83 crores, he said.
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A dedicated staff would be deployed as protectors to take care of the plantations in a responsible and accountable manner, the chief minister said.
He reiterated that the state government was working towards 'Vyavastha Parivartan', under which the barren forest land would be covered to make Himachal Pradesh a 'green state'.
A model nursery would also be developed in each forest division of the state in the year 2023-24, he said, adding that these 45 nurseries will have facilities like vermicompost units, poly houses, greenhouses, sprinklers, root trainers and tissue culture labs.
This would aid in strengthening the infrastructure of nurseries, which can serve as a focal point for the multiplication of planting material as well as capacity building and training of staff engaged in nurseries maintenance and sharing of good practices, he said.
These model nurseries would also act as extension centres for public engagement for creating awareness about the floras and faunas of the state, Sukhu added. The Congress leader also urged local representatives to participate in the campaign.
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