Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said forest encroachments must be strictly controlled in the State. Speaking at the Chief Minister’s Medal Award Ceremony for 2022 and 2023, Mr. Siddaramaiah said forest officers must also be strict in preventing forest encroachments.
“The responsibility to protect wildlife and forest resources lies with everyone. Except for Africa, India has the highest wildlife resources. Similarly, the extent of forests needs to be increased further. The responsibility of the medal recipients in protecting forest resources has increased even more,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
A total of 49 officers and staff of the Forest Department will receive the Chief Minister’s Medal for distinguished service in forest conservation, wildlife protection, forest agriculture, forest management, training, research, planning, public participation, development work, human-animal conflict management, and implementation of innovative initiatives for the years 2022 and 2023.
Since 2017, the Chief Minister’s Medal has been awarded annually to 25 forest officers and staff. The Chief Minister also said that medals for each year should be distributed in the same year and that there should not be any backlog in the award distribution.
The Chief Minister also handed over appointment letters to 267 forest watchers on the occasion. The Forest Department had invited online for 310 forest watchers’ posts for the year 2023-24. A total of 1,94,007 candidates had applied for these posts.
Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre said in the last 10 years, Bengaluru had lost around five square kilometres of green cover. “Efforts must be made to restore Bengaluru’s reputation as a garden city. There is a need for the forest department to join hands in increasing the city’s green cover. The forest land near HMT would be reclaimed and developed into a park there on the lines of Cubbon Park and Lal Bagh,” Mr. Khandre said.
