Stringent laws to protect forests soon, says CM

Hyderabad: Expressing a serious concern over increasing smuggling of precious flora and fauna in the state forests in the recent years, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said that his government would soon enforce stringent laws by amending the existing Acts to punish those who indulged in such illegal activities.

Participating in the Forest Officers’ conference here on Saturday, he said the big challenge for the government was the protection of forests from smugglers, anti-social elements and poachers. Destroying forest resources is equal to murder under section 302 of the IPC. But, the present Acts have no teeth to award severe punishment to the accused, hence, his government was taking all measures to change the laws and ensure that not a single culprit goes scot free.

Observing that the forests were the livelihoods of the dwellers, the Chief Minister said that the officials should play a constructive role in protecting the rights of locals besides curbing the exploitation of forest resources.

Calling on officials to reach the benefits of the recently held “International Bio-diversity Conference”, in which the participants from across the world made strong recommendations, for the protection of forests from smuggling, Reddy urged the department to set short and long term goals and strive to implement them in true spirit so that the destruction of forests could be prevented at the initial level. Revival of the destroyed forests was not an easy task, he added. State Forests, Environment and Science and Technology Minister S Vijayarama Raju said that the government was utilising the services of the efficient officials in the department to revive the depleting forests reserves.