Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of Forest Complex, to come up over 2 acres of land at an estimated cost of Rs 38 crore in Sector 68, Badal emphasised the need to make the masses aware about the importance of trees in daily life. “We must strive hard to conserve our forests because deforestation at a largescale has resulted in imbalance in the eco-system,” he said.

Badal asked officials of the Forests department to motivate people to plant trees to clean the environment that has been polluted by heavy emission of deadly industrial and other gases.

The chief minister also announced special prizes of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh for the best green village and town selected through a statewide competition organised by the Forest department to encourage people to grow trees and inculcate the aesthetic sense to nurture them with utmost care.

Badal regretted that most of Punjab’s area under the forest cover had gone to Himachal Pradesh after reorganisation of the state in 1966. “It is high time to plant trees on a large scale to strike a balance in ecology besides protecting the environment from global warming,” he said.

Cooperation Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh said that the new forest complex would be instrumental to encourage the masses to adopt the green building technology in order to popularise the concept of clean and green environment.

In his address, Forest Minister Tikshan Sood said the new forest complex will be constructed on the principles of green philosophy to propagate the concept of “Green Building Design” to preserve and protect the environment.

Forest Complex

* Height: 100 feet (7 storeys)

* Comprise: Conference Hall, Training Centre, Forests and Wildlife Gallery, Document Centre

* Supervision: Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation

* Quality Control: Punjab Engineering College