‘Will help in surveillance, making of buffer, red zones though geo-mapping’
Forest Department has deputed Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) to the offices of Deputy Commissioners across J&K to assist them in containing COVID-19. The services of the DFOs (Territorial) and DFOs (Social Forestry) have been placed at the disposal of respective Deputy Commissioners for management of the infection, in addition to their duties, said an official of Forest Department. These teams will work under the overall supervision of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Jammu and Kashmir, Mohit Gera to help civil administration and health department to control spread of coronavirus. “The DFOs will coordinate and cooperate with respective Deputy Commissioners in the tasks assigned for management of COVID-19 while ensuring that the activities like management of zoo, nurseries, wild life, fire fighting, watering plantation, patrolling and related activities are carried out smoothly,” said the official. He said the DFOs under the supervision of PCCF Jammu and Kashmir will constitute teams of officers and staff members in each district to work in coordination with Directorate of Ecology, Environment, and Remote Sensing for tasks pertaining to geo-spatial and temporal mapping of coronavirus cases. “They will help in surveillance, making of buffer zones and containment zones using geo-mapping with the help of data which will be provided by the respective Deputy Commissioners to them. They will work with support from Director Environment,” said the official. The official said Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo will chair a meeting on Tuesday to review how they will work and conduct supervision and presentation will also be made by the officials. Under the supervision of DFOs, three to four official team will be formed and they will collect data from the DC offices for geo-mapping so that buffer zones and containment zones can be made.
