Plea for conditional lifting of ban on timber cutting

During the meeting held at Civil Secretariat on Monday, under the chair of provincial Environmental Minister, Wajid Ali Khan instructed the officials of Forestation Department to formulate an acceptable report over the issue, which should be acceptable to all stakeholders.Officials have been instructed to ensure the formulation and implementation of a transparent system prior to lifting ban on commercial level cutting of forest timber.A computerized system has been emphasised to locate the exact amount of timber, the amount of timber illegally procured and new plantations.It is pertinent to note that a ban on timber cutting was implemented in the wake of 1992 floods to stem the flow of floods. However, the efforts failed in view of people’s misery and dependence on local wood.