Rudraprayag: In light of the forest fire situations across the state, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the Pirul Lao-Paise Pao Mission in the Rudraprayag district on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister kicked off the campaign on Wednesday as he participated in the cleaning of the Pirul in Rudraprayag district and directed people to take part in the Pirul Lao-Paise Pao campaign to prevent forest fires.
Under this campaign, to prevent forest fires, the Pirul (leaves from the Pine Tree) lying in the forest will be collected by the local villagers and youth, weighed and then stored at the designated Pirul Collection Centre. According to the weight, the amount will be immediately sent online to the bank account of that person at the rate of Rs 50 per kg. Pirul collection centres will be opened by the Tehsildar in their respective areas under the supervision of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. The Pirul received by the villagers will be weighed and stored safely and the Pirul will be packed, processed and made available to the industries. The district Magistrate and Divisional Forest Officer will make efforts on the ground to obtain maximum Pirul.
This mission will be operated by the Pollution Control Board for which a corpus fund of Rs 50 crores will be kept separately and the villagers will be given the money for Pirul from this fund.
Chief Minister Dhami also spoke to the forest workers deployed to control the forest fire and inquired about their well-being. The cooperatives, Yuva Mangal Dal, and Van Panchayat will also be included in this campaign.
Collecting Pirul will also help in controlling pollution. "Pirul" is a local term in Uttarakhand for products made from pine needles of Pine Trees, also locally called Chid Trees. Pine needles, also known as Pirul, can catch fire quickly and are a major cause of forest fires in pine forests. Pine needles are acidic, have little use, and fall in large quantities that take a long time to decompose. They can spread for kilometres and only need a spark to ignite. In Uttarakhand, an estimated 1.8 million tons of pirul are produced each year, which can cause significant damage to the environment and forest wealth. —ANI
