The Meeting of the State Board for Wildlife, UT Chandigarh was held today on 27th June, 2022 under the Chairpersonship of Shri Banwari Lal Purohit, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab & the Administrator, UT Chandigarh in UT Secretariat, Sector-9, Chandigarh. Besides officers of UT Administration of Chandigarh, Representatives of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India and representatives from NGOs, Wildlife Experts etc. were also present. At the outset, Sh.Banwari Lal Purohit, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab & the Administrator, UT Chandigarh welcomed all the officers and asked the Chief Conservator of Forests to proceed with the meeting.
Sh.Debendra Dalai, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forests, UT Chandigarh made a brief Presentation on the scenario of forest & wildlife in UT Chandigarh. How the UT Chandigarh has preserved its greenery and wildlife was highlighted. He further elaborated that the green cover of Chandigarh is continuously rising and has crossed 50% as per the latest report of Govt. of India. The major faunal diversity of two Wildlife Sanctuaries were also highlighted. Sh.Banwari Lal Purohit, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab & the Administrator, UT Chandigarh appreciated the effort and commitment of Forest department in preserving the green wealth of the city. Sh.Dharam Pal, IAS, Advisor to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh and Sh.Nitin Kumar Yadav, IAS, Secretary Forests, UT Chandigarh also emphasized on the consistent and committed effort made by Department to enhance the forest and green cover of the City Beautiful. All the Agendas were taken up thereafter. The detailed discussion was held on the proposal of Chandigarh Housing Board for the Housing scheme project in IT Park and after detailed discussion, the Board unanimously agreed to forward the proposal to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for issuing necessary Wildlife Clearance to the project. As a major step towards Ease in Governance, the Board resolved to issue the Permit to the visitor to visit Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary on-line on payment of nominal Permit fee. The Board has also resolved to initiate an Eco Tour Bus Service to various forest areas of Chandigarh on specific days in a week so that general public on payment of prescribed charges can take advantage of it to see various forest areas such as; Butterfly Park, Peacock Park, Botanical Garden, Parrot Park, Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary etc. On the agenda regarding Eco Sensitive Zone, the Board has resolved to take up the matter with Northern Zonal Council (NZC) to resolve this long pending issue of declaration of Eco Sensitive Zone of Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary along the boundary shared with the States of Punjab and Haryana.
At the end, Sh.Banwari Lal Purohit, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab & the Administrator, UT Chandigarh expressed his gratitude to all the esteemed members of the Board for their contribution in the meeting and further resolved to meet atleast once in a year to discuss various issues concerning management of wildlife.