Div Com (J) reviews execution of management plan for felling of Khair trees

Jammu : Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar on Thursday chaired a meeting of Deputy Commissioners and Officers of Forest Department to review the management plan for felling of Khair trees (Acacia Catechu) grown on non-Forest land in Jammu division.
The meeting was attended in person by Chief Conservator of Forest, B M Sharma; Assistant Commissioner Central, PritamLal; DFO Jammu, AnoopSoni, while the Deputy Commissioners of Jammu division along with DFOs and Assistant Commissioners Revenue participated through video conferencing.
The meeting had threadbare discussion on the issues pertaining to the Management Plan, Status of Khair growing on non-Forest lands/ private land in the division and issues pertaining to the felling of Khair trees etc. The meeting was informed that numerous applications have been received and forwarded to revenue authorities for title verification.
Reviewing the cases of permissions for felling Khair trees, the Div Com took note of the pending permissions in the districts. He directed the Deputy Commissioners to facilitate speedy permissions by expediting the title verification and other procedures to ensure early submission of the same to the Chief Conservator of Forest. Pertinently, several delegations of PRIs approached the Divisional Commissioner office with the demand to get title verifications done expeditiously by the revenue officers.
Khair, found in subtropical areas of Jammu region of J&K, is an important cash crop for the farmers, especially in Kandi zones. It comes up profusely in non irrigated lands and thus plays an important role in compensating the farmers for their less productive land.
Khair exists in the nine territorial divisions viz; Reasi, Mahore, Udhampur, Ramnagar, Rajouri, Nowshera, Jammu, Kathua and Billawar spread over six districts vizReasi, Rajouri, Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur.
The Div Com said that the roaster is defined in SRO 111 of 2016 for grant of approvals to the permissions of felling of Khair Trees. As per SRO no Khair tree shall be felled or converted for any purpose without permission granted under the extant rules.
“No Khair tree/wood shall be used for any purpose except in accordance with the provisions prescribed in the SRO,” he added. It was informed that several applications are pending with the DFOs and Tehsildar concerned for grant of approval.
The Divisional Commissioner emphasized on close coordination between Revenue and Forest officials for expeditious clearance of permissions. He directed the DCs and DFOs to process all the pending cases and simultaneously conduct the demarcation. The Revenue heads of Districts were instructed to expedite the title verification process and other revenue recommendations and send all the cases to the Chief Conservator of Forest for grant of final approvals. The Div Com also asked the DCs to reject cases where state land is involved.
Meanwhile, the Div Com reviewed the dispensation of online revenue services and took stock of district wise disposal percentage. The Div Com exhorted the revenue officers to work with zeal and dedication to provide the best services to the public and lessen the hardships of the common masses. He asked the DCs to ensure prompt disposal of online applications. He also stressed the importance of conducting regular monthly meetings with Tehsildars to discuss the issues and progress made under the online services. He also directed the revenue officers to educate the public about the online services of their department and motivate them to avail the benefits of the same.
The Div Com also reviewed the progress on land acquisition process for Delhi Katra Express Highway and instructed the concerned DCs to expedite the land acquisition and disbursement of land compensation. He also asked the DCs to resolve issues if any for smooth execution of work on the prestigious project. While reviewing the progress of delineation of land recorded as Gair Mumkin Khad, Nullah, Dariyaetc, the Divisional Commissioner asked the concerned Deputy Commissioners to expedite the process and send weekly segregation reports to the divisional level Committee for further action in this regard.