Hyderabad: Parliamentary panel to tour Telangana in April for five days

Saifabad: A parliamentary standing committee headed by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh will tour Telangana in April for five days to study raising of greenery, revival of forests and alternative forestry works being taken up.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) R Shobha during a video conference from the department head office, here, Aranya Bhavan, with district officials. She said the committee would study the 'Haritha Haram' programme in view of the recognition the State got for increasing green cover through the programme.

The PCCF discussed with the district officials problems arising in forests during summer, fires, making water available to animals, progress of works taken up with CAMPA funds and steps to be taken for the 'Haritha Haram' programme next year and department permissions for various projects/schemes.

Shobha disclosed that the department would organise special programmes to celebrate the 'Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav' to mark 75 years of Independence. The programmes would include identifying a green village in each district and educating people on importance of greenery, checking crimes in forests, hunting of animals.

The PCCF announced that CCMB would hold a training programme for the department officials in districts on March 18 and 19 on securing details of dead/killed animals in accidents.

The venue would be the Amrabad Tiger Reserve at Mannanur. She pointed out that such details were necessary for solving cases of attacks on animals in forests and expediting the inquiries.