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No plans to replace decaying willow trees in Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal CM tells House
The CM, replying to a question asked by Lahaul and Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur during the budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, said that the government has no plans to replace willow trees in the district
The government has no plan to replace the willow trees in the Lahaul and Spiti district, which are decaying due to a disease, Himachal Pradesh chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed in a written reply on Wednesday.
The CM was replying to a question asked by Lahaul and Spiti member of legislative assembly (MLA) Ravi Thakur during the budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.
The CM said that a survey was conducted by Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, Dr YS Parmar University for Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and Himalayan Forestry Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, to ascertain the reasons behind the decay of willow trees in Lahaul area.
Apart from this, the government also took steps like proper site selection, mixed plantations and planting good seedlings of willow species. Willow species, including Kashmiri willow, are being raised in nurseries and planted in the same areas.
He added that HFRI, under a research project funded by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), is working on the development of disease-free and disease-resistant varieties of willow in Lahaul and Spiti district since 2016. These would be available for multiplication within a year.
In the past few years, nursery-raising practices for willow have improved and shifted from raising naked root stock to raising in polybags.
The forest department also advises the locals on site selection for raising willow trees, specifically in areas where irrigation facilities are available since these trees are water-loving by nature.
People are advised to take the growing stock from selected, healthy and young and vigorous plants only, do pollarding in a scientific way and avoid mechanical damage, Sukhu said.
Replying to Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma’s question, industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that 901 investment memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed during the first global investors meet held in Dharamshala in 2019.
Chauhan said out of these, 523 investment MoU proposals have been implemented. Until now, 228 industries have been established in Himachal and construction in ongoing in 157 industries. The minister said that 9,366 people have been provided employment in the 228 industries set up so far.
Chauhan said although the Centre has started the self-certification system ‘Udyam registration’ for micro and small enterprises, there is no provision for the industry department’s inspection on its own.
‘Not possible to gather data on employment yet’
“Therefore, it is not possible at this stage to collect information about the employment available to the Himachali youth in the industries established under the MoUs signed during the investor meet,” said Chauhan.
In reply to a question raised by Fatehpur MLA Bhawani Singh Pathania, Chauhan said that government was not planning to map areas under mining in the state using satellite imagery or drones. He said that before granting any area for mining in the state, a mining plan is required to be prepared by the applicant through registered qualified person (QRP). During this, the mining area concerned is surveyed and mapped by ascertaining the boundary co-ordinates of through various means such as GPS, theodolite, total station and drones.
Addressing Indora MLA Malender Rajan’s question, the CM said that 187 cases were registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and 252 accused were arrested in the Indora assembly segment in the three years till January 31, 2023.
The police have filed chargesheets against 245 accused in 181 cases. The investigation is ongoing against seven accused in five other cases, he added.
Replying to another question asked by the Indora MLA, Chauhan said that 32 cases of illegal mining were detected in Indora assembly area in the last two years and appropriate action has been taken against the offenders.
