On the Earth Day on Friday, the State Government decided to launch a programme under which villagers living close to fire-prone forests would be given incentives for tackling forest fire in a bid to prevent major loss to forest cover.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) would be followed to tackle forest fire. The responsibility of controlling and dousing the blaze would be entrusted to everyone from the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) level to the Forest Guards. Each Forest Range would be equipped with a blower to control fire.
Moreover, afforestation would be undertaken with a target of regenerating 10 lakh hectares of raged forestland in the next four years. “I would urge citizens to contribute to the environment by planting at least one tree and actively participating in the Government’s programme,” said Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh.
“We will construct a series of water conservation and water harvesting structures across major forest areas... We are planning to ensure that these structures are set up in the next five years and this will help preserve water for drinking and irrigation purposes,” said Forest and Environment Secretary Suresh Mohapatra.