Frame Punjab-specific forest policy within year: House panel

CHANDIGARH: Pointing to declining water levels and low forest cover, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has recommended that the state formulate its own dedicated forest policy within a year. The recommendation, tabled in the assembly on Wednesday, underlined the need for a framework tailored to Punjab’s unique regional and ecological conditions.In its 220th report—which addresses state appropriation accounts and audit observations from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for 2016-17 and 2018-19—the committee, headed by AAP MLA Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, proposed a one-year timeline for the policy’s creation.In its response, the forest department argued that as forests are aconcurrent subject, it is already effectively implementing the National Forest Policy. Citing the Centre’s ongoing review of the draft National Forest Policy-2018, the department claimed a separate state policy was unnecessary.The PAC countered this by highlighting that neighbouring states—including Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh—have successfully adopted their own policies. The committee argued that as the National Forest Policy addresses macro-level issues, Punjab requires a state-specific roadmap to ensure environmental restoration, particularly given its limited natural forest base and the recommendations of the National Forest Commission (2006). The committee also pushed for aggressive and practical afforestation targets.