Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao today slammed the Opposition for its allegations of corruption against his government in the Telanganaku Haritha Haram program.
In a review meeting at his camp office on Monday, the CM ridiculed the Opposition for being unaware of the budget allocated to the green drive and for accusing his government baselessly.
He said that the Opposition parties had done nothing to expand or restore the forest cover during their respective terms in office and hence were just envious of the current government's success with the Haritha Haram initiative. He described the initiative as a people's movement.
He also slammed the Opposition for its allegation that Rs. 1,000 crores had been swindled through the green drive, without any evidemce. He added that the Opposition should shun the hope that the government would fail in its schemes and promises.
To ensure trust among the people, KCR directed the officials and leaders at all levels to coordinate with one another so as to realise the target of the drive. Any dereliction or negligence on their part would be noted through performance reports and would be dealt with, he said.
KCR also promised employment opportunities for wood smugglers so as to prevent illegal deforestation and other similar activities. Steps in this regard had already been initiated in the Adilabad and Karimnagar districts on a pilot basis, he said. "We are trying to restore the forest cover lost to illegal deforestation by encouraging social forestry," he added.
He also said that the government would conduct sting operations to monitor participation in sapling-protection. Stern action would be taken against sarpanches, tahsildars, MPDOs, leaders and officials of villages, towns and cities if the saplings planted did not survive, he said.