Hyderabad: The forest department has decided to involve public representatives in the protection of the green cover in Telangana state. With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao launching the slogan Jungle Bachao, Jungle Badao, the officials want to step the activities to protect forests.
District-level officers will meet newly-elected legislators from each Assembly constituency and inform them about various measures being taken up by the department for protecting the forests. The officers will also seek the support of the MLAs in protection and rejuvenation of the forests in the districts.
Usually, the encroachers of forest lands approach the local public representatives for help whenever the department tries to take action on them. Officials of the department are of the view that directly involving the elected representatives in protection of will be the right solution for this.
A senior official of the forest department said, “With Mr Chandrasekhar Rao laying emphasis on protection and rejuvenation of the forests, most of the MLAs may support the efforts of the forest department. So we thought this is the right time to involve the public representatives in these activities.”
The forest department officials have already joined hands with the police department to curb the smuggling activities in the forests. The district administrations are also giving high priority to protecting the forests.
