DC Kathua reviews achievements of Forest Deptt

Kathua : Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Rahul Pandey convened a meeting of the Forest Officers to take first-hand appraisal of their working in the district
The meeting was attended by DFO BillawarVivekModi; DFO Basohli Ashwani Kumar; Wildlife Warden Vijay Verma; DFO Social Forestry Manish Bhardwaj and District Soil & Water Conservation Officer, Rahul Singh.
The Officers of all wings of different Forest Divisions gave PowerPoint presentations of their working including physical and financial progress achieved under different schemes in their respective areas.
The Deputy Commissioner took detailed review of the status of pending Forest Clearance cases and called for making collective efforts to remove the bottlenecks and other hindrances to ensure that development projects be completed in a time bound manner.
The DC also called for making a checklist of Forest clearances at different stages and levels for the ready reference of executing agencies and stakeholder departments.
On rejuvenation and construction of new water ponds under Amrit Sarovar Scheme, the DC directed concerned officers to explore convergence under MGNREGA with proper utilisation of CAMPA funds to create water bodies and ensure their upkeep.
The DC also called upon the Forest Officers to work out a plan to create assets in scenic and picturesque areas of the district to attract tourism which, he said can be further developed as a Tourism Village Network.
The other issues discussed included Forest Fire, FRA cases and scope of adventure tourism in identified Forest tracks in various Forest Divisions of the district.