DW BUREAU / Shimla

The Pricing Committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here today and approved the new rates for non-timber produce and royalty. The last meeting of this committee was held in the year 2022.

The Chief Minister directed the Forest Development Corporation to undertake the extraction of the cider wood stumps on its own, ending the current practice of hiring the private contractors. He instructed to prepare a roadmap for the extraction of approximately 10,000 cider wood stumps.

On the occasion, the Corporation presented a cheque of Rs. 41.30 crore to the Chief Minister of royalty revenue earned from the silviculture felling of Khair and Saal trees. He said that silviculture felling carried out with the approval of Apex Court, khair and saal tree has not only proved beneficial for the eco-system but also contributing to the state exchequer.

Shri Sukhu directed the Forest department to make prompt and effective arrangements for preventing the forest fires in view of the ongoing summer season. He said that forest fire operation services should also act immediately to control the forest fires and called for greater involvement of local communities in checking the fire incidents. He said that the forest department shall also focus on improving the survival rates of saplings.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the various schemes of the Forest department and directed to ensure timely disposal of salvage trees in order to minimize losses and boost revenue for the State.

Vice Chairman, State Forest Development Corporation Kehar Singh Khachi, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest K.K. Pant, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF) Samir Rastogi, Managing Director, State Forest Development Corporation Sanjay Sood and other senior officers of Forest department were present in the meeting.

(editor@dailyworld.in)