HYDERABAD: A day after the marathon session with district collectors at Pragati Bhavan here, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, along with his Cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats, had a day out on Wednesday at Gajwel, the constituency he represents in the Assembly. After shifting the venue of the collector’s conference from Pragati Bhavan, the chief minister led a battery of ministers and IAS officers to Singayipalli, Nenturu and Komati Banda villages in the Gajwel Assembly segment.
Except a few ministers, like Mohammad Mahmood Ali, who attended a private function in Hyderabad, around 10 ministers and the district collectors travelled from Hyderabad to Komatibanda on three buses. The chief minister explained to them how greenery was developed in Gajwel, and said he wanted all collectors to draw inspiration from the success story and improve the green cover in their respective districts.
Rao said 66.48 lakh hectares — or 23.4 per cent of the state’s land — was forest land, but greenery was not found on it. He sought for the collectors to prepare a plan for revival of forests across the state, and explained how the forest was rejuvenated in Gajwel, primarily in Singayapalli, Nentur, and Komatibanda villages.
‘Gajwel was once a desert, now it has turned green’
“Gajwel was once like a desert. Now, with the rejuvenation plan being implemented for the past three years, the entire area has turned green. Rainfall has increased in the area,” Rao told the collectors.
‘Food courts’ for monkeys
With as many as 27 varieties of fruit-bearing trees being grown in the forest area of Gajwel, it has a food court of sorts for monkeys, Rao told the collectors. “Draw inspiration from the revival-of-forest programme being implemented around Gajwel and replicate it across the State,” he said. Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) R Shobha and Additional PCCF RM Dobrial explained to the collectors how the forest was revived.
Later, the district collectors were taken to the Mission Bhagiratha plant constructed at Komatibanda, where Rao had lunch with them. Later, he held a meeting with the collectors there and discussed plans for the implementation of the new Panchayat Raj Act, new Municipal Act and the proposed new Revenue Act. Rao said the new Revenue Act would provide corruptionfree administration.