Jaipur, June 16. Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje has dwelled upon striking balances between needs of conservation and development. She emphasized that the government departments should go that extra mile and cooperate with each other keeping in mind the long term good of the state.

Addressing official members of the Board, Smt. Raje said that people centric development could very well accommodate environmental concerns. She directed that the Forest, Public Works, Mines and other infrastructure-related departments for regularly exchange ideas and work on GIS tools which would allow real-time sharing of information leading to faster processing.

The Chief Minister asked the tourism department officials to work with the forest department to ensure nature tourism received sufficient attention. New destinations needed to be developed and the experience of tourists visiting Ranthambhore, Sariska and Taal Chhapar sanctuaries has to be improved.

Smt. Raje reiterated the importance of involving locals in the management of wild life and forest areas. She asked the departments to focus on the lesser known sanctuaries like Kumbhalgarh, Sorsan and Taal Chhapar and also look at tourism in the Chambal area and in the ravines of Dholpur. She asked for the focused action plans in conservation of Leopards, the Great Indian Bustard and Sloth Bears in Dholpur. She insisted that Jawai Dam conservation area receives the attention it deserves from the angle of sustainable wild life and tourism management.

Chief Minister mentioned the issue of translocation of villages and pointed out that the translocation package has to be attractive and it should be done with sensitivity. She also expressed concerns about the reports of diclofenac related deaths of eagles in Jodbeed area, Bikaner.

The State Wild Life Board considered and cleared number of important proposals of development related projects to be forwarded to the Government of India for further clearance.

Chief Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Additional Chief Secretary Forest Shri OP Meena, Chief Wildlife Warden Sidhnath Singh and Principal Secretary Mining Shri Ashok Singhvi and other officials of different government departments and members of the Board were present in the meeting.