India News | Working Plan Ready for Felling of Khair Trees in 5 Forest Divisions: HP CM Sukhu

Shimla, May 19 (PTI) A working plan for the felling of khair trees in five forest divisions in Himachal Pradesh has been prepared after the Supreme Court's nod on the matter, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday.

The plan was readied after a survey of the trees in Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, and Kutlehar forest divisions, Sukhu said in a statement here.

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According to the prescribed norms, 16,500 trees could be axed per annum in these forest divisions, he said, adding that extraction of khair will begin soon.

The working plan for the remaining five forest divisions -- Nahan, Poanta Sahib, Dharamshala, Nurpur, and Dehra -- is underway, and forest officers will initiate the process of inspecting the forests and counting the khair trees there, the chief minister said.

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Sukhu said the silviculture felling of khair trees was better for forest management and rejuvenation, besides revenue generation for the state exchequer.

Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth as well as the quality of forests to meet specific needs, especially timber production.

Most of the khair trees were decaying due to the non-extraction of timber on time, which was a major obstacle to proper forest management, he said.

He said the Himachal Pradesh government had pleaded the case cogently in the apex court keeping the state's interest in mind and the court delivered a verdict in favour of the forest department.

The Supreme Court allowed the felling of khair trees in 2018 on an experimental basis to know the results of silviculture felling of khair trees.

The top court was convinced by the opinion of the forest department as the central empowered committee allowed the axing of khair trees in its findings and gave its permission for 10 forest divisions, Sukhu said.

On May 17, the chief minister said the standard operating procedure for marking and felling of dried trees would be formulated to check illegal felling of trees.

He maintained that due to the delay in cutting dried trees, the state suffers a financial loss of Rs 1,000 crore per annum.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)