Minister Ramanath Rai Inaugurates ‘Forests for Water’ campaign
Udupi: ‘Forests for Water’ programme organised by the district administration, Forest Department, KSPCB and NSS unit of Mangalore University was held at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium Manipal here on July 24.
The programme began with the Nadageethe, Amaranth DCF Kundapur welcomed the gathering. B Ramanath Rai Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp.
In his message, Ramanath Rai said that the state government is making all efforts to conserve the forests in the state. The public should also join hands with the Forest department in conserving the forest. The minister said that the Aranya Krishi Protsaha Yojana has been introduced in a bid to increase the green cover. Saplings are provided to farmers at a concessional rate. Incentives to farmers under Aranya Krishi Protsaha Yojana has been increased to Rs 100 from Rs 30 for each surviving sapling.
The government has planned to develop a Tree Park in the name of Salumarada Thimmakka in each Assembly Constituency. The tree park will be developed under the theme. He said that not only planting, but attempts should be made to see that the plants grow, to increase the green cover.
The forest area in the state should have been 33%, but at present area is only 22%. The increase in population has resulted in the destruction of forests. the state’s forest cover has increased by 28,900 hectares. To save trees, the department is providing LPG connections to residents around forest areas. The department is also encouraging people to plant saplings and giving them Rs 100 for every sapling.
Climate change will have long term consequences. Hence, it is necessary to take measures to check global warming. Environment, forests and natural resources have to be preserved for future generations.
The increase in population and decrease in forest cover has resulted in more instances of man-animal conflict. One of the solutions for this is to increase the forest cover.
Expressing sadness for the Union government issuing notification on implementation the Kasturirangan report, Rai said that the Union government is betraying the people of the Western Ghats and farmers of Karnataka. The Union government has shown bias against Karnataka, pointing to the fact that the Centre has dropped many villages from the eco-sensitive zone in Kerala after the neighbouring state submitted its objections. We have filed our objections for the third time, he said.
It is not just the duty of the government, but also the citizens to protect the forests. In order to create awareness among children about the importance of forests, the government is sending selected students of class nine on a tour to the forests under the “Chinnara Vana Darshana” programme. Meanwhile, the Forest Department has organised a nature camp, ‘Devi Vana’, ‘Sirichandana Vana’ and other programmes, he added.
The Karnataka state has the highest number of elephants and tigers in the country. We should be proud that there are nearly 6,000 elephants in our State and we have the highest tiger population. Besides measures have been taken by the Forest Department, he said.
Mangaluru Circle CCF Sanjay Bijoor in his introductory remarks said that Udupi has already been experiencing less rainfall during the year. The solution for the water crisis lies in the increase of forest cover. Trees help in percolating water, thus helping in increasing the groundwater. The Forest department is mulling over developing the 140-km stretch with saplings beside the roads in the district. In a move to save trees in the forests from being chopped for use as firewood, the Forest department will provide LPG connections to households. About 1.86 lakh seed balls have been sown to increase the green cover in the district, he said.
Pramod Madhwaraj district minister in-charge presided over the function. Meenakshi Madhava Bannanje president CMC, Nalini Pradeep Rao president TP, Priyanka Mary Francis, DC Udupi, Anuradha G ADC Udupi, G K Prabhu, Punati Shridhar, Latha and others were present on the occasion.