SHIMLA: Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh here today batted for the use of drones to monitor illegal cutting of trees, illegal mining and forest encroachment in the state.
Chairing the meeting of 5th Steering Committee of Himachal Pradesh State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Singh reviewed the action on the 4th Steering Committee meeting and discussed various issues of the proposed Annual Action Plan for the year 2022-23.
The Chief Secretary instructed the officers that drone cameras should be used to monitor illegal cutting, illegal mining, encroachment etc. He said that to prevent these crimes in the forest department, front line staff of the department should be trained to use drone cameras and standard operating procedure for monitoring forests through drone cameras should be prepared.
Additional budget should also be arranged in CAMPA to purchase drone cameras and for training of front line staff. He also directed to complete the work list of the proposed annual action plan for the year 2022-23 under CAMPA within stipulated time period.
Chief Conservator and Chief Executive Officer CAMPA Rajesh Sharma presented before the Steering Committee the work list of the works done during the last three years in the Forest Department under Himachal Pradesh State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority and proposed annual action plan for the year 2022-23.
Additional Chief Secretary Forest Nisha Singh, Principal Chief Conservator Forest Ajay Srivastava, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (FCA) Rakesh Gupta, Additional Principal Chief Conservator (Management) Dr. Sushil Kapata, Chief Conservator of Wildlife (South) Shimla K. Thirumal, Divisional Forest Officer (Eco-Tourism/CAMPA) Preeti Bhandari and other senior officers of Revenue, Agriculture Department, Tribal Development Department were also present in the meeting.
