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| Lal Singh's maiden meeting in Srinagar stretches for 12 hrs | | Minister starts with anecdotes; gives piece of mind to officials | | Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Apr 29: Chairing his maiden meeting with officials here, Forest Minister Chowdhary Lal Singh lectured for 12-long hours giving a "piece of mind" to the official machinery under his Ministry.
Starting his meeting with reference to an anecdote Lal Singh, presumably wanted his officials to understand his importance. At Banquet Hall, his story started like this: "Once upon a time there were two friends, each of whom had a son. One of the sons would study a lot in the childhood while the other would play around. The two families stayed apart for several years, after which the two friends met again.
"One of them asked the other about his son. And the reply came, 'He used to study a lot, he is a doctor.' This friend posed the same question to the other one who replied, 'My son didn't study, he is Forest Minister."
While some of the officials relished anecdotes like these, then there came intermittent bashing. Lal Singh pulled up the officials in his typical style.
Asking Forest department officials to plant trees other than Kiker, he sought plantation of fruit trees in some forestland. On this one of the officials objected saying fruit trees couldn't be planted in forestland. To this, Singh ridiculed saying: "What loss will you personally suffer if forests also produce fruits. Can't you people change your mentality?"
The Minister said the pollution in cities like Srinagar was not only because of any industries or vehicles but failure of institutions like Pollution Control Board. He said on landing in Srinagar he found himself in a dustbowl as billows of dust emanate from roads. He said a major cause of pollution was trucks carrying construction material were being allowed to ply without mandatory covering of the material.
Taking a dig at Chairman PCB, Abdul Razzak, Singh said the department had become a deadwood as even the inflow of polythene bags into the Valley was not being checked. The Minister said the department's head office had become a "safe heaven for influential employees who have not been transferred for years."
Then there came the turn of forest officials who were equally pulled up for non-performance. Lal Singh said tummies of the male staffers particularly guards often protrude out, as they don't do their duties properly. "They (guards) had to walk around and keep vigil in forests whereas in reality they spend duty sitting idle at offices or homes as a result of which they got obese while the forest got slim and slim due to deforestation," Singh observed.
Singh said the waterbodies across the State were in a mess while forestland was being grabbed. "Why doesn't the department fence the forestland or is it meant to allow miscreants re-grab the land?" he asked amid pin drop silence.
Taking a dig at another senior Forest official OP Sharma, Lal Singh said the former was too busy with works other than his basic duties. "Why should villagers, who have a tradition, unnecessarily adapt your personal views on what they should plant or eat?" The Minister asked.
Then, he stood up in support of wild animals. Lal Singh said the Forest officials were least concerned for wildlife. "You people don't even bother to see that bears are being fed polluted waters," Singh said.
Sources privy to the meeting added that the Minister said he would personally visit health resorts like Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam to check illegal constructions, which have come up on forestland. He also said that cement factories at Khrew and their impact on nearby Dachigam National Park would be examined.
Though the meeting took half an hour break for lunch, it resumed immediately to end at around 11:00 PM. "It is for the first time, I attended such a long meeting. On reaching home late, my wife didn't open the door but sought explanation for coming so late. Though I told her I was with Lal Singh Ji but she didn't understand," said a top Forest official asking not to be named. |
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