BATOTE: The Forest Department shall sanction timber to the flood or landslide hit families on concessional rates from either the Timber Sale Depots(TSDs) or the nearby forest.
It was informed by the DFO, Batote, Shahzad Choudhary to the Sarpanchs, Panchs, Numberdars and the prominent residents of Batote tehsil during a meeting chaired by him in presence of Range Officer, Batote, Surinder Singh Chib on Saturday.
He said that on the receipt of an application by the needy person and the verification of facts by the officials they shall be allotted the timber according to their requirement.
He also assured them of seriously considering their demand of allowing a villager to get his timber sawn from any saw mill in town; treating or afresting the landslide prone areas on priority, improving the coordination between the Forest Department and the Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs), taking up the issue with the Patnitop Development Authority regarding the unauthorized disposal of sewerage into adjoining forest by the hotels and JKTDC huts at Patnitop and improving the facilities at City Forest Park in Batote.