Sindh cabinet cancels illegal allotment of 70,000 acres of forest land

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Monday cancelled illegal allotment of 70,000 acres of forest land in the province and approved vacation of another 145,245 acres of forest land illegally occupied by influential people.

The cabinet meeting was held with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair at the New Sindh Secretariat. Provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and secretaries attended the meeting.

The CM directed the forest department to seek help from the police and Rangers to get the illegally occupied 145,245 acres of forest land vacated. Regarding the illegally allotted 70,000 acres of forest land, the CM maintained that all such allotments were to be cancelled. He directed the revenue and forest departments to issue cancellation orders in this regard.

Sindh Forest Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah informed the CM that 13,000 acres of forest land had been retrieved from illegal occupants and action was being taken for the retrieval of the remaining occupied land.

The issue of people affected by the coal project in Thar was also discussed in the meeting. Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh told the cabinet that 757 families living within one-kilometre radius of Gorano Dam and Dukkur Chho pond should be considered as affected people apart from the 471 families which had been displaced due to the Thar Coalfield Block-II.

The cabinet approved to donate Rs900 million to the Thar Foundation so that it could disburse Rs100,000 annually to each of the affected families of Gorano and Dukkur Chho for the next 30 years.

It was also decided to pay Rs100,000 each to the 471 affected families of Thar Coalfield Block-II.The cabinet also approved the Sindh Injured Persons Compulsory Treatment Bill. A four-member committee, comprising Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab, and the health and law secretaries had been tasked with finalising the bill so that it could be tabled before the Sindh Assembly.

According to the proposed law, it would be mandatory for all the hospitals to provide treatment to injured persons brought to them.Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahu informed the cabinet that growers were demanding an increase in the purchase price of sugar cane as it had been stagnant since the last three years at Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes.He, however, added that the Punjab government had fixed sugar cane price at Rs180 and recommended that the price be not lowered below Rs182 per maund.The cabinet approved fixation of minimum sugar cane price at Rs182 per 40 kg.