A workshop on the situation, protection and digitisation of forest land at the State Forest Department has resolved to mark the boundaries of forest blocks in the State by geo-referencing them with the help of satellite maps, and placing the information with the field-level forest officials.
Such fixing of boundaries would address the disputes and litigations around the forest land, the workshop under the chairmanship of Union Environment & Forests Director General Siddhanth Das, concluded.
Mr. Das, who met the senior forest officials from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka, said litigation over forest lands has been on the rise. The Forest Department had to fight legal wars against individuals and some government departments too for several years.
Fixing the boundaries should be done using the latest technology, as the survey and earmarking of forest blocks was done before the Independence, he said.
The workshop was held in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s verdict that the boundaries of the forest land in the country should be marked with proper calculations.
Measures taken
Senior officials from all the four States explained to Mr. Das the measures initiated towards protection of forest land and fixing of its boundaries.
The workshop also decided that there should be inter-State coordination with regard to forest block boundaries.
Senior technical director from National Informatics Centre, scientists from Space Applications Centre, and officials from the Remote Sensing Agency participated and explained how the latest technology helped the digitisation of forest blocks.
PCCF P.K. Jha, Karnataka Chief Conservator of Forests Biswajit Mishra and Odisha Plannning, Analysis & Research Officer S. Mishra participated in the meeting, apart from the Special Chief Secretary of A.P. Manmohan Singh and PCCF of A.P. P.K. Sarangi.
Mr. Das later met the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and hailed the programmes launched by the Telangana government towards increasing the green cover and better utilisation of river water.
Mr. Rao, along with Minister T. Harish Rao, Jogu Ramanna and Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, explained to him the schemes such as Haritha Haram, Mission Kakatiya and various irrigation projects.
