PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Chief secretary Anand Bardhan directed officials to soon prepare and implement a trekking policy in the State. Chairing a meeting on eco-tourism with Forest department officials here on Monday, he set a target to present the trekking policy in the cabinet by August. Stating that new peaks should be opened for trekking, Bardhan directed officials to immediately start the procedure for securing necessary permissions and approvals for this. Directing the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board to expedite the audit of identified peaks, he directed officials to present the report soon.
Bardhan directed that all types of bookings for mountaineering, trekking, tourist sites and forest rest houses under the Forest department should be made online. This will prevent booking beyond capacity. He also said that the nine sites being developed on the lines of the Jhabarkhet model should be inaugurated by October this year.Stating that formal nature guide training should be started in the State, the chief secretary said that a permanent training centre should be established and the curriculum should be finalised. Merging additional material with the Central government curriculum, a certification course should be started soon, he said, adding that the course should be started during the Wildlife Week commemorated in October.
Bardhan also directed that either the Forest department or the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC) should be chosen for operation of forest rest houses and 31 trekking sites along with eco-camps and eco-hubs, adding that the plan should be presented in one month. Stressing on the need for strengthening the UFDC, he said that a proposal for this should be submitted soon to the administration so that further action can be taken. Head of forest force Kapil Lal and other officials were also present in the meeting.
