Himachal Pradesh has no government vehicle to monitor felling

This image has been used for representational purposes

Shimla: In a written reply in the Assembly, Himachal Pradesh Forest Minister Govind Thakur on Friday revealed that the state has no government vehicle to monitor illegal felling, mining and fire-related incidents in the mountain state's forests.

He also said that the state Forest Department has 37 regional and six wildlife forest divisions and under them, there are 198 forest ranges. Thirty-nine out of the 198 forest ranges are sensitive ones.

In a report in news agency IANS, the minister said as per a remote-sensing study conducted by the Forest Survey of India, the state's forest cover has increased by 2.67 per cent (393 sq kms) from 2015 to 2017. The Forest Survey of India does forest mapping through remote-sensing system once in two years.

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from IANS

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