Officials on Friday stated that Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is working hard to improve pilgrimage facilities.
In this context, a meeting took place Friday under the chairmanship Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s chief executive officer. It was held to review plantation activities as well as various seedling origins supplied by the J&K horticulture department to the shrine board. The aim of the meeting was to explore the possibility of planting more of these plants in the area of shrine forest in the future.
Ram Savak, Jammu’s director of horticulture; Brij Vallabh Gotta, chief Horticulture Officer, Reasi; and Vinay Khjuria, ACF SMVDSB attended the meeting.
The CEO reviewed the inventory of fruit plants received from horticulture. He was informed by the CEO that fruit-bearing trees are being planted in Serli forest, which is part of the shrine board. However the CEO proposed that seedlings of fruit-bearing plants be identified and planted in Natali, Sanjichhat, Bhairon areas during winter.
The director of horticulture promised to provide more high yielding seedlings like mangoes, guavas, oranges, etc. during the ongoing winter plantation. In addition, he also promised to provide higher-density seedlings in the coming summers.
The CEO was also informed of the creation of the mother-plant area in Kunia Nursery for fruit-bearing species such as mango, litchi (Muzaffarpur), and guava in a 2-hectare area in Phase II of the nursery.
The CEO emphasized the importance of planting high density varieties of plants that produce high quality fruits and are compatible to local climatic conditions. He stressed the importance to plant fruit-bearing plants in order to reduce the monkey menace. He requested that the plantation activities be completed in a timely manner and that all steps are taken to increase the green cover on the Trikuta Hills.