Tag: State Forest Department

Boost for eco-tourism at Sabujdweep & Jharkhali

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The State Tourism Department has started work to develop Sabujdweep in Hooghly district and Jharkhali in South 24-Parganas, located in the Sundarbans region, as eco-friendly cultural tourism spots. Both the places have attracted tourists over the years. The new measures will add to the infrastructural facilities and thus help in making them more popular.

Sabujdweep consists of two islands mainly – one is 55 acres in area and the other, 44 acres. The department has already started work on developing them as eco-friendly cultural tourism spots. The government will set up stalls so that local artisans can make handicrafts there and sell them to tourists. There will be a platform for traditional folk performers to entertain during the evening hours.

A zoological garden is also going to be set up in Jharkhali by the State Forest Department in order to conserve the endangered flora and fauna of the Sundarbans.

State Govt planning on sensor-based technology to curb elephant deaths

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The State Forest Department is exploring the possibility of a sensor-based technology to track the various sounds made by elephants to track their exact location. The move is a significant stride towards mitigating the problem of elephant deaths on railway tracks in north Bengal.

This will be the first time in the country that such a technology will be used, said a senior official of the Forest Department.

He said that the high-frequency sounds made by an elephant are audible but they also make low-frequency sounds that are inaudible to the human ear; this is where the technology will help. The technology will use artificial intelligence to recognise such sound within a fixed radius

The trials will be held either in Gorumara or Mahananda National Park in September. The Wildlife Institute of India will be making the technology analysis while the Forest Department will be providing field support.

The official also said that if the technology is found to be effective, it will be integrated to the mobile communication used by train drivers so that they get SMS alerts on their phones.

It may be mentioned that the Forest Department has been trying to identify a cost-effective technology to prevent deaths of pachyderms on railway tracks of north Bengal. A two-day workshop was held in Chalsa in November last year, hosted by the department, which was attended by scientists and experts on forest and wildlife across the country.

Source: Millennium Post

Weeklong Vanmahotsav begins today in Bengal

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The annual seven-day ‘Vanmahotsav’ begins today in Bengal. The theme for this year is ‘Aranya o banyapran/ Prakriti mayer sabuj daan’, which translates to ‘Forests and wildlife/ Mother Nature’s green gifts’. The slogan has been penned by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself.

On this occasion, the State Forest Department will distribute 50 lakh saplings – to State MLAs, and educational and other institutions across Bengal. Fifteen per cent of the 50 lakh would be fruit trees.

All the 294 MLAs of the State will be given 1,000 saplings to plant in their own areas. Schools, colleges, clubs, and various institutions and offices which have space to plant would also be given saplings.

Saplings would be sold from the counter of the Forest Department too. Anyone can go and buy them, at a rate of Rs 2 per sapling. Forest Department products like honey and citronella oil would be sold at a discount of 10 per cent.

As a part of Vanmahotsav, neem trees would be planted across Kolkata – for shade as well as for the fact that they are strong enough to withstand strong winds.

The Forest Department has decided to reward those show good results in taking care of trees, including Forest Department officials and workers – first prize of Rs 1 lakh, second prize of Rs 75,000 and third prize of Rs 50,000.

A special edition of the Forest Department magazine, Banabithi would be published on the occasion of Vanmahotsav.

Source: Aajkaal

Bengal Forest Dept bans use of plastic in parks

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The State Forest Department is going to impose strict restrictions on the usage of plastic material in the parks that are owned by the department. The Forest Minister announced this decision during a programme organised on the occasion of World Environment Day at Central Park in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

Visitors will not be allowed to enter parks with any plastic items or bags. The step has been taken to protect the environment of the parks. Besides throwing away packets inside parks, it is also often seen that people dump plastic bags and other items in the waterbodies inside the parks, which in turn cause damage to the animals and plants in the water.

The Forest Department would also urge the stalls situated near the parks not to sell items in plastic packets to the people.

Extensive awareness campaigns would also be carried out by the department against the use of plastic items, which disrupt the ecological balance. Through these campaigns, the ill-effects of plastic items would be explained.

The State Government is already doing a lot to reduce the harm caused by plastics. It has taken steps to reduce pollution caused by plastics and polythene bags by cleaning drains and water bodies at regular intervals.

Source: Millennium Post

WB Govt to construct toilets in and around forest areas

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In an unprecedented move to minimise the incidents of human-elephant confrontation, the state forest department has come up with an idea to set up toilets at the households in and around the forest area as villagers often face wild tuskers while going for open defecation in the forest.

The move taken by the forest department has been widely appreciated by various sections of the society in the state.

It has been observed that in the forest adjoining areas, people need to go to the forest for open defecation and get attacked by the wild elephants. To check such incidents, the State Forest Department is planning to set up toilets at every households situated in and around the forest areas in different sub-divisions.

Forest Minister Binay Krishna Burman on Sunday flagged off the project at Baikunthapur forest division in North Bengal under which around 350 households situated at the forest area have got toilets. The department has a plan to set up toilets at other households at other forest ranges as well in various phases.

“Our department has constructed 350 toilets in the houses of the villagers living in Baikunthapur range. This will reduce the incidents of human-animal conflict. We have a plan to set up toilets for the villagers residing at other forest ranges through various phases as the project requires huge fund,” the Minister said.

He also said that people living in the forest areas have to confront various wild animals when they go for open defecation. After considering the matter which is of great importance, the State Forest Department has chalked out an elaborate plan to solve problem. The project which was inaugurated at North Bengal was a part of weeklong Bono Mohotsav celebration started on July 14 by the Forest Department.

The Forest Department has urged the district administration and various Panchayat functionaries in the district having forest areas, to come forward and join hands with the department to conduct the project in a smoother way.

It may be mentioned that the state government had launched Mission Nirmal Bangla in October 2014 under which various sanitation projects were taken up at various levels. The state government had also set up a target before various departments to achieve cleanliness and sanitation by forming an administrative mechanism. Mission Nirmal Bangla was a brainchild of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had laid emphasis on the cleanliness drive.

In less than a year’s time, Nadia had become the first Indian district to earn Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, on April 30 in 2015. Nadia launched an aggressive sanitation project in the name or everyone’s toilet.

In around 18 months, nearly 347,000 toilets were built in the district. Mission Nirmal Bangla which has now become a showcase project of the state government has been carried out by various district administrations and the UNICEF.

 

বন ও বন সংলগ্ন এলাকায় শৌচাগার নির্মাণের পরিকল্পনা রাজ্য সরকারের

রাজ্য বন দপ্তরের উদ্যোগে বনাঞ্চলের সব বাড়িতে শৌচাগার তৈরির নতুন অভিনব পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছে রাজ্য সরকার।

বন দপ্তরের গৃহীত এই পদক্ষেপ সমাজের বিভিন্ন বিভাগ দ্বারা প্রশংসিত হয়েছে।

এটা লক্ষ্য করা গেছে যে বন সংলগ্ন এলাকায়, মানুষ খোলা আকাশের নিচে মলত্যাগ জন্য বনে যান এবং বন্য হাতির দ্বারা আক্রান্ত হয়। এই ধরনের ঘটনা বন্ধ করার জন্য, রাজ্য বন বিভাগ ইতিমধ্যে বিভিন্ন মহকুমায় ও  বনাঞ্চলে প্রায় প্রত্যেক বাড়িতে টয়লেট স্থাপনের পরিকল্পনা নিয়েছে।

রবিবার বনমন্ত্রী বিনয় কৃষ্ণ বর্মণ উত্তরবঙ্গের বৈকুণ্ঠপুরে এই প্রকল্পের সূচনা করেন যেখানে প্রায় ৩৫০টি পরিবার রয়েছে। পাশাপাশি অন্যান্য অঞ্চলেও পর্যায়ক্রমে এই শৌচাগার তৈরির পরিকল্পনা রয়েছে।

২০১৪ সালের অক্টোবর মাসে রাজ্য সরকার নির্মল মিশন বাংলা প্রকল্প চালু করে।একটি প্রশাসনিক প্রক্রিয়া গঠন করে পরিচ্ছন্নতা ও স্যানিটেশনের ক্ষেত্রে একটি লক্ষ্য স্থির করেছে রাজ্য সরকার। মিশন নির্মল বাংলা এই উদ্ভাবনী প্রকল্পের মাধ্যমে মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা ব্যানার্জী পরিচ্ছন্নতার ওপর গুরুত্ব আরোপ করেছেন।

প্রকল্প শুরুর এক বছরেরও কম সময়ের মধ্যে ২০১৫ সালের ৩০ এপ্রিল নদিয়া দেশের মধ্যে প্রথম ODF status অর্জন করেছে। সকলের জন্য শৌচাগার এই স্যানিটেশন প্রকল্প চালু করেছে নদিয়া।

গত ১৮ মাসে জেলায় প্রায় ৩৪৭০০০ শৌচাগার নির্মাণ হয়েছে। মিশন নির্মল বাংলা যা এখন রাজ্য সরকারের একটি গ্লাসকেস প্রকল্প হয়ে উঠেছে যা ইউনিসেফ দ্বারা প্রশংসিত।