Telangana Government is determined not only to protect the forest cover but also expand as much as possible, insisted Minister for Forests JoguRamanna.

Speaking a function got up to pay homage to martyrs on the Forest Martyrs Day at the Nehru Zoological Park here on Sunday, the Minister pointed out that the ambitious Haritha Haram Project launched by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is the biggest ever such initiative by any State Government in the country as a record 29.5 crore saplings were planted to expand the green cover across the State.

“We will act tough against poachers and encroachers who are out to destroy the flora and fauna. For this purpose, the Department had set up 144 base camps with coordination from the triabls, 62 strike force centres and 57 check posts across the State,” Ramanna informed.

“The Government will not hesitate to enforce the Preventive Detention Act against the encroachers and poachers as it is determined to usher in a revolution of sorts in this regard,” the Minister asserted.

“The Chief Minister has responded positively to the need of filling up about 2,000 vacant posts in the Forest Department,” he revealed.

“We hope the sacrifices of 22 Forest Department officers who laid their down lives since 1984 to protect the nature from offenders would inspire many to show the kind of dedication and commitment in this regard,” he said. “I sincerely pay my respects to the bereaved family members and assure them of complete help from the Government,” he added.

Earlier, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P.K. Jha recalled the sacrifices made by the Forest Department officials in protecting the nature and thanked all other Government wings for making the Haritha Haram such a huge success.

Environment, Forest, Science and Technology Principal Secretary B.R. Meena stressed on the need for protecting the “voiceless wildlife against poachers”.