Felling of trees will be banned in Haryana for five years to increase the forest cover.
However, those trees that have withered or are required to be removed because of a development project would be allowed only after seeking approval of the concerned authorities, said Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, RR Jowel. He presided over a review meeting of the Forest Department on Tuesday. He directed that trees should be planted along all national and state highways, district and village roads without any further delay. He also asked the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Amrinder Kaur to identify and purchase land under the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) head to increase green cover in the state.
As per the India State of Forest Report 2015 released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) recently, Haryana’s forest cover had shrunk in the past two years. The forest cover which was 1586 sq km (2013) in the small state of Haryana had gone down to 1584 sq km recording a decline of 2 sq km (around 500 acres). The rotational felling of trees and diversion of land for non-forestry purposes had led to decline in green cover of Haryana, as per the FSI report. At present, the forest cover is around 3.58 per cent out of the total area of 44 lakh hectares of Haryana and the State Government has set a target to increase it to six per cent in next five years and make it 10 percent in the future. Jowel directed that all the pending cases under Forest Conservation Act, 1980 should be taken up on priority basis and same should be settled without any further delay.