Mizo CM makes green appeal

Aizawl, Jun 15 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has made a clarion call to the people of Mizoram to save the once-evergreen state from rapid deforestation.

In his message on the eve of the Green Mizoram Day, which falls on June 16, the Chief Minister fervently appealed to the people to not only plant trees, but also to nurture them.

Planting trees is the significant feature of Green Mizoram programme since its inception in 1999. During the last eleven years, over 16,50,855 trees have been planted on the occasion of the Green Mizoram Day, held each year during the first half of July, the Chief Minister said in his message.

''However, owing to the annual forest fire (due to the shifting cultivation), uncontrolled felling of trees and our failure to nurture the planted trees, Mizoram has rapidly lost its green trees,'' the Chief Minister said.

''We, the people of Mizoram, have a great responsibility. A responsibility to plant as many trees as possible and ensure that the trees grow up,'' the chief minister urged the people.

HC also pointed out that it is the duty of every Indian citizen, as laid down by Article 48 and 51 of the Constitution, to protect the environment.

''Moreover, as a Christian, it a divine duty to conserve the environment as the Bible teaches us to preach the Gospel to all the Creation,'' he said.

Aware of how much the age-old traditional shifting cultivation has destroyed the forests, the government has worked out an environment-friendly agriculture project called the New Land Use Policy, Mr Lal Thanhawla said, and urged the people to help the government's programme achieves its goal.

''Even though Mizoram has 91 per cent of its total geographical area under forest cover, only 0.64 per cent are dense forests. This indicates that only sanctuaries and a few inaccessible areas are under dense forest,'' he said.