Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday directed officials to integrate forest department outposts with police outposts to combat timber smuggling in the state.

Presiding over a meeting of the forest department here, he emphasised the installation of advanced technology, including CCTV cameras, at these integrated outposts.

Timber smuggling results in revenue loss for the state government and the forest department should take proactive measures to restrain the illegal trade, the chief minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued here.

The forests of Himachal Pradesh serve as the lungs of north India and are highly valuable assets for the state, Sukhu said.

However, the recent torrential rains have caused significant damage to these trees, resulting in immense losses, he said and stressed prompt removals of the uprooted trees from the forest land and ensuring their proper disposal.

Sukhu also reviewed the working plans for harvesting Khair Trees in the Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, and Kutlaihar forest divisions and asked the department to work on it promptly.

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