All forest officials should spend 15 days every month in the forests, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday, scoffing that they have “camped in Bengaluru”.
This directive applies to officers at all levels, starting from the principal secretary of the department to forest conservators.
Speaking after inaugurating the golden jubilee of the Karnataka Forest Development Corporation here, Bommai said that several officials are confined to their offices in Bengaluru.
"Stay in the forests at least for 15 days in a month. That will encourage other staff to work towards forest conservation," he said.
Stressing on increasing forest cover to 30%, the CM said: "In next five years, the forest land should be increased to at least 30% from the existing 23%. Every official of the department must work towards reaching that goal."
Bommai asked the Corporation to prepare a vision document keeping the next 50 years in mind.
"If the Corporation utilises Rs 100 crore fund provided in the budget properly, the government is ready to allocate another Rs 100 crore," he said.
"I agree that growing Nilgiri (Eucalyptus) trees is bringing profits to the Corporation. But I don't think such revenue is needed. We should think of new saplings apart from Acacia and Nilgiri," he said.
Published 25 June 2022, 14:19 IST