Forest Minister Ishwar Khandre has said that 6,000 vacant permanent and contract-based posts in the department will be filled soon to effectively protect wildlife and prevent encroachment on forest land.
He said that the government has taken the continuous landslides in the Western Ghats region seriously and is taking lives.
In this regard, he directed that a committee comprising the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute, Karnataka Biodiversity Board and experts, led by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Forest Force Chief Meenakshi Negi, be formed within 10 days and submit a report within 6 months.
The biodiversity site in Bangalore Cantonment Railway Colony has 368 different species of huge trees, and to protect these, locals and environmentalists have requested that this area be declared a biodiversity heritage site. The Forest Minister directed that the process in this regard be initiated and that no permission be given to cut trees till then.
