VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Forests and Environment Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday directed officials to accord priority to the protection of coastal forests and prevention of encroachments, and to fast-track the Great Green Wall of Andhra Pradesh and 50 per cent green cover projects on a mission mode.
Chairing a review meeting with senior forest officials at the Secretariat in Velagapudi, he instructed them to prepare a comprehensive road map by the end of January.
Stressing community participation, Pawan Kalyan said coastal communities should be entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding plantations and forest lands along the shoreline.
He said achieving 50 per cent green cover was one of the key targets personally assigned to him by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and called for coordinated efforts across departments to accomplish it. A special task force involving Forest, Horticulture, Irrigation, Tribal Welfare, Industries, Pollution Control Board and other departments will be constituted to monitor progress, he added.
Highlighting Andhra Pradesh’s 974-km-long coastline, the Deputy CM said a five-km-wide green belt should be developed along the coast using mangroves, casuarina and palm trees to protect coastal habitations from cyclones and natural disasters.
He noted that plantations had already been taken up along 402 km of coastline over a 500-metre width, and called for a detailed study on land availability within the Coastal Regulation Zone.
The Great Green Wall project will be implemented in three phases: coastal plantations, greening along canals, roads and drains, and agro-forestry in farmlands.
Funds from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Green Climate Fund, CSR and MGNREGS will be utilised.
He also said about 10,000 acres of unnotified mangrove forests had been identified through satellite imagery and steps were being taken to notify and protect them.