It’s a race against time to regain green cover

It’s a race against time to regain green cover
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The state has lost 8.63 lakh hectares of forest area over the years. From its earlier 30.04 lakh hectares, it has lost 8.63 lakh hectares.
To compensate this, the state planned to develop forest cover in 3.10 lakh hectares, but till date it could only do so in 0.24 lakh hectares. To afforest the lost area is no mean job, but costs a whopping Rs 3,020 crore.
Revealing these details in its 2008-09 report, the Public Accounts Committee headed by Siddaramaiah has recommended to the government to take up appropriate and immediate measures by chalking out a definitive plan.
To top it all, the state does not know the extent of forest cover. Following this discrepancy, the committee has suggested ascertaining the actual extent of forest cover by Beat Maps.