UP: Task force to conserve forests

Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), May 18 (ANI): Authorities in Uttar Pradesh (UP) have constituted a task force to conserve forests and their resources.

Speaking to mediapersons recently, Amarnath Singh, a member of the task force highlighted its significance.

"There are lot of forests and forest mafias in Purvanchal. The area is connected with cities and is targeted by mafias who cut the trees and sell the woods at high prices in international market. The task force, consisting of trained personnel, has succeeded in combating the mafias," Singh said.

The Gorakhpur region mainly consists of Teak forests, which are tropical hardwood trees.

The total forest cover in the district is about 15, 276 hectares.

Departmental forest officer of the district, Awadhesh Prasad Tripathi, told reporters that the chief minister had directed them to work towards the conservation of forests.

"We have instructions from the Chief Minister (Akhilesh Yadav) that green belt be established in 3-4 areas of each district of the state. Those parts will be included in the green belt if there is 2 hectares of area in the cities and more than 5 hectares in rural areas. Till now we have identified Sahjanwa which has seven hectares of area and process is underway to bring Gola and Barhalganj under the green belt," Tripathi said.

According to Forest Survey of India statistics, nearly 19.27 percent (63.3 million hectares) of the geographic area of India is under forest cover.

Approximately 950 million people depend on the forest resources. (ANI)