Hyderabad: Forest minister A. Indrakaran Reddy said the forest authorities had registered 11,669 cases and imposed a fine of Rs 14.07 crore as part of forest protection.
He said that during 2021-22, Rs 7.31 crore worth timber was seized and 1,634 vehicles were confiscated. Besides, 1,133 cases of forest land encroachment have been registered, the minister said. He was speaking at an event at Nehru Zoological Park to commemorate National Forest Martyrs Day.
The day honours the memory of the sacrifices of 360 people from the Bishnoi community who laid down their lives to protect the forests in Rajasthan 292 years ago.
In the last 38 years since 1984, 21 forest officials were martyred in the state in cases of wild animal attacks or poaching confrontations. Indrakaran Reddy said the government had sanctioned the recruitment of 92 forest section officers (FSOs), 14 forest range officers (FROs), 1,393 forest beat officers (FBOs) and 2,173 vehicles had been allotted to the department.
The minister commended the efforts of the officers and staff of the state forest department for their courage and dedication and paid tributes to those who had lost their lives on duty.
According to the forest department, measures were taken to provide drinking water to wild animals by employing solar pump sets and building saucer pits. Work was underway to protect the forest boundaries by digging trenches extending to 10,732 km throughout the state.
The event was attended by TS Forest Development Corporation Chairman Vanteru Pratap Reddy; special chief secretary, forests, A. Santhi Kumari; Principal Chief Conservator of Forest head of forest force, R.M. Dobriyal; PCCF (CAMPA) Lokesh Jaiswal; forest department adviser R. Shoba and Nehru Zoological Park curator S. Rajashekar.
