Tuesday, 20 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has demanded that the pine tree should be kept out of the list of protected trees in Uttarakhand.
In a letter written to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Mahara has said that the state government of Uttarakhand is planning to allow cutting of trees of other species from private land except 15 species of trees.
He said that it is well known that more than 80 per cent of the area of Uttarakhand is covered by the forests. In this forested area, there is an abundance of pine trees in about 40 per cent of the area. Mahara said that these pine forests are also the main reason for the drying out of traditional drinking water sources and cause frequent forest fires in the mountainous areas. They also cause large scale damage to natural wealth and agriculture. He said that the local people are consistently demanding the felling of pine trees.
The PCC president further said that in view of the abundance of pine species in the mountainous areas and the ill effects caused by it, the pine should be removed from the list of protected trees.
