Chief Minister Harish Rawat has expressed dissatisfaction at the slow pace of revenue generation to meet the target by the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC). Chairing a meet to review works of the corporation, Rawat directed officials to ensure that full transparency is maintained in mining areas under UFDC’s purview.
The CM said that any complaint of irregularity or illegal mining should be investigated without delay and stringent action should be taken against officials found guilty. Stressing on the need for the corporation to further increase its resources, Rawat said that the UFDC should be more professional and bring some novelty in its work instead of continuing with dated systems.
Effort should be made to facilitate 100 per cent revenue generation from areas under the corporation’s purview. Complaints of illegal mining being received consistently also affect the working of the corporation. He pointed out that all district magistrates and senior superintendents of police had been directed to take stringent action against illegal mining. Checking drives should be conducted regularly to facilitate effective action against illegal mining, stressed Rawat.
UFDC chairman Harish Dhami said that the DM concerned has been directed to take action in cases of anomalies revealed in the quarrying for minor minerals in some areas. Chief secretary N Ravishankar, additional chief secretary Rakesh Sharma, principal secretary, Forests, Ranvir Singh and UFDC managing director Srikant Chandola were also present in the meeting.