Port Blair, Apr 11: Shri Ashok Lavasa, secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, GoI was on a visit to these Islands from 4.4.2016 to 10.4.2016. During his visit the secretary visited the National memorial “Celluar Jail”, Ross Island and held interactions with the Chief Secretary and Senior officers of the Department of Environment and Forests on 4.4.2016. The Secretary visited Diglipur and Mayabunder Divisions and made field visits to Ross and Smith Island, Casuarina bay and inspected the works related to Ecotourism, Sea turtle conservation, edible nest swiflet conservation, Mangrove restoration in tsunami uplifted areas, coastal shelterbelt plantation areas, Natural Regeneration areas, etc. He interacted with the staff and employees of the said divisions on 5.4.2016.
On 6.4.2016 the Secretary visited Betapur Saw mill, Dhaninallah, Yerrata mangrove forests, Long Island and Lalaji bay. He appreciated the efforts made by the department in areas viz. conservation of forests, wildlife, biodiversity and ecotourism. On 7.4.2016, the Secretary visited Kadamtala timber ghat depot and interacted with the staff on the issues related to timber extraction. He visited the Baratang Limestone caves and Swiftlet caves. Appreciated the efforts of the department in species recovery programme of edible nest Swiftlet and asked to harness its economic potential for the benefit of the local community. He also visited mount Harriet National Park and Chidyatapu Biological Park and discussed with the officials about the insitu and exsitu conservation programmes initiated by the department. Later in the evening he interacted with the Chief Secretary, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, DGP, Principal Secretaries, secretaries and senior officers of the department.
On 8.4.2016 the Secretary, MoEF&CC visited Havelock Island and discussed about the programmes implemented by the department on Conservation of Dugong, seagrass meadows and Coral reefs. He visited the Radhanagar beach, Elephant beach and Kalapathar beach. Also asked about the demand and supply of NTFPs and asked the department to go for planting of NTFPs to meet the local people demand as well as the ecotourism projects. He lauded the efforts of the department and the people in maintaining the beaches neat and clean. He asked the department to create more awareness among people on the need for proper waste disposal including biodigesters, energy conservation and use of biofertilizers to keep the environment safe and clean.
On 9.4.2016 the Secretary visited the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Wandoor and inspected areas of Pongi Balu, RM point, Jolly buoy, and other areas of the Park. He was shown the coral reefs, permanent monitoring plots to assess the reef health, weather data logger established by NIOT to collect the physic chemical parameters of water and air, mangroves, nesting beaches and tourism areas. He also visited the Marine interpretation centre and witnessed the documentary on marine life. Appreciating the efforts of the department, the secretary asked the Deputy Conservator of Forests (WL) to put up an info panel near the exit of the interpretation centre and list out what is expected from the visitors for conservation and management of this unique tropical forest, coastal and marine ecosystems. He asked to have documentaries with short duration of 7-8 minutes on various themes and screen them regularly for the benefit of visitors and others. He also underlined the need to go for more awareness and capacity building programmes to reach out maximum number of people with conservation messages.
On 10.9.2016 the secretary left for New Delhi and was seen off by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and senior officers of the Department.
