Advisor (K) for framing effective action plan to strengthen Forest Deptt

Jammu: Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar Friday stressed on framing an effective action plan focusing on further strengthening and improving the overall functioning of Forest department and its allied wings.
He was speaking at a specially organized interaction session with forest department functionaries here at Mansar,
The session was attended by Commissioner Secretary Forests Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Director Soil & Water Conservation P K Singh, Director Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing B Sidhartha Kumar, Additional PCF Sarvesh Rai, CCF Eco-Tourism J Frankoi, Director Finance Forests R S Bali, Regional Director PCB Shally Ranjan, Regional Director Social Forestry Jammu M K Kumar, Conservator East B. Mohan Dass, Conservator West Jitendra Kumar, Regional Wildlife Warden Tahir Shawl, DFO’s of Jammu Division and other officers of the department.
The Advisor said the main objective of this session was to have one to one interaction with the field functionaries, who are responsible for implementing every plan on the ground and to listen to the issues/problems they are facing so that the same are discussed and redressed properly.
“The focus is to capture the good ideas coming from the officers and to incorporate them in improving the working of the department”, the Advisor said.
Several suggestions/inputs were provided by the officers participating in the session department wise which were thoroughly discussed and noted for inclusion in the future action plan.
The issues highlighted by the officials including shortage of staff, lack of logistics support for the field officers/staff, issues related to revenue department, rationalization of staff, overlapping of functions, steps to remove stagnation, clearance of DPC cases, service related issues and others were thoroughly discussed.
The participants were also asked to provide inputs on how to effectively utilize the available human resource to achieve positive results. Stress was laid on capacity building of the employees and was decided that officers and other staff must attend the prescribed training programs to update their knowledge and skill.
Besides, special training programs being held outside the state should also be attended by the officers as per the recommendations of their heads.
To further give push to the eco-tourism activities in the state, CCF Eco-Tourism was directed to conduct visit to the state of Uttrakhand to study the model of Eco-Tourism there so that the best practices can also be adopted here for its promotion.
With regard to the department’s plan to safeguard the Mansar Lake, one of the largest freshwater lake in the region, the meeting had detailed discussion on all the aspects of its conservation and management plan having focused attention on preservation of various species of fish that are being destroyed due to the presence of Carp Fish in the water body and its predatory habits.
It was informed that Carp fish have been destroying the other species and they cannot be taken out from the body as there are religious sentiments linked to it.
The Advisor said keeping in mind the religious beliefs of the people and by making them aware of the situation, steps would be taken to address the issue.
He directed the Wildlife Protection department for conducting census of the Turtles that are found in Mansar Lake and also to study their feeding and nesting pattern so that some strong measures can be taken for the conservation of this endangered species.
Discussion was also held on water quality of Mansar Lake and steps need to be taken to have effective sewerage treatment plan in place to stop the polluted water entering into the water body. The officers of State Pollution Control Board were asked to take necessary steps in this regard and to enforce strict ban on use of polythene at the tourist spot.
The Advisor asked Forest, SMDA and Tourism Department to collectively work towards ensuring clean and green environment at the tourist spot and to promote eco-tourism activities in the area.