Himachal Pradesh government has decided to integrate police and forest department’s check posts to stop timber smuggling in the state.
The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at Shimla on Sunday.
The CM also emphasized the need of installation of advanced technology, including CCTV surveillance at the integrated check posts and directed the forest department to play a proactive role in putting a check on illicit timber smuggling, causing huge revenue loss to the state government.
He said, “The department should enhance surveillance and make a determined effort to nail down timber thieves as and hoped integration of check posts would help this task.”
Highlighting the importance of forests he said, “The forests are serving as lungs of the state by providing abundant oxygen, help in preserving ecology and environment, the CM also directed the department to immediately remove uprooted and fallen trees from the forests.”
The CM also reviewed working plans for harvesting chair trees in five forest divisions in a time bound manner.