Punjab forest cover +100sqkm,India’s best

The forest officials credit the increase in forest cover to the tree-plantation drive across the state. As per the FSI report,Punjab now has 1,700 sqkm area under forest.

The report further states that the increase was more prominent in dense forest areas in select select pockets of Punjab. The increase has been reported mostly areas like Gurdaspur and Ropar,which already have a large area under forest.

The officer,however,say that the figure could have been much higher but for the villagers who mostly uproot the saplings alleging that it would affect their crop.

Ludhiana district forest officer (DFO),Naresh Mahajan,confirming that the FSI has circulated a report,said that the department is upbeat after getting the positive feedback.

Forest Minister,Surjit Kumar Jayani,meanwhile,has asked the officers to not onluy plant saplings,but also to take care of the same till they are mature.

Mahajan said that the Mattewara area too has registered an increase in forest cover. However,he said that the department was now planting more acacia saplings,instead of the eucalyptus,which was earlier grown in the area but were now dying en mass owing to shortage of water.