Hyderabad, August.0 : The Minister for Forests, Mr. P. Ramachandra Reddy, has said that the government has decided to build up the required 33 percent of forest area according to the norms.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Thursday, Mr Reddy said that at present there was only 22 percent of forest area as social forestry could not be taken up as planned, because of budget constraints. He also said that the budget allotted to the department was just sufficient for salaries and other routine expenses, he added.
Stating that the government has realized the need for enhancing the forest cover, Mr Ramachandra Reddy said that it was decided in a review meeting on Thursday that the set targets for social forestry should be completed at least during the next five years. He said that it was also decided to plant 4.04 crores saplings and roadside plants for a stretch of 41,793 km. Apart from this, it was also decided that block forestation should be taken up in 1,600 hectares. The government has decided to spend Rs 10 crores out of the Rs 20 crores sanctioned by the Centre towards social forestry.
Mr Reddy said that of the Rs 500 crores the Centre had sanctioned for NREGP, 75 percent of it would be spent towards social forestry.
–NSS