Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh in presence of Speaker Legislative Assembly, Kavinder Gupta, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment, Choudhary Lal Singh and Minister of State for Forests, Ecology and Environment, Zahoor Ahmed Mir inaugurated 67th Van Mahotsava in the State from village Panjgrain in Jammu district. A large number of people participated in this massive plantation drive and planted saplings ofdifferent species in forests of Panjgrain, Ban, Dhammi and Mand of Udhampur district. Legislators, Sat Sharma, Neelam Langeh, R.S. Pathania, Rajesh Gupta, Principal Conservator of Forests, A K Singh, Director Social Forestry, Suresh Chugh, Director Forest Protection Force, Suresh Gupta, Director Ecology and Environment, O.P. Sharma, Chief Conservator of Forests, Roshan Jaggi, Chief Conservator of EcoTourism and Wild Life, A. K. Gupta and Divisional Forest Officers of Territorial, Social Forestry, Soil Conservation and Forest Protection Force were also present on the occasion. While addressing the gathering, Deputy Chief Minister called for carrying out plantation drive with a missionary spirit throughout the State for reversing the harmful effects of the global warming besides preserving the pristine natural beauty. He also called for generating massive awareness regarding harmful effects of deforestation and need to plant more trees to maintain fragile ecological balance. He appealed to the people of State for plantation of saplings in open spaces like in schools, colleges, railway stations and Government offices. He said that Government has chalked out a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the degraded forests across the State. He called upon the experts and scholars to come up with concrete suggestions which can help in reversing the effects of climate change. Choudhary Lal Singh while speaking on the occasion said that Government has set a target of planting more than two crore new trees throughout the State, particularly in the degraded areas. He said that plantation drives are being carried out in various parts of State with the help of locals and PRIs. He emphasized the importance of trees and plants and mentioned that trees are best friends of mankind as they serve in a variety of ways to every creature on the earth planet, so it is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders of the society to contribute for preserving promoting the green wealth and nature’s best gift. The Forest Minister also called upon the functionaries of department to organize massive awareness drive in all parts of the State to highlight the importance of forests.
