Over 230,000 hectares of HP forests affected by exotic weed

Over 2,30,000 hectares of forests in Himachal Pradesh are infested with the exotic lantana weed -- a flowering shrub that poses a serious threat to the natural regeneration of indigenous plant species, state Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said today.
He informed the state Assembly that as per a survey conducted by the Forest Department in 2015-16, a total of 235,492 hectares of forests were affected by the lantana. The state had started an eradication drive in 2013, but it would take at least 20 years to clear it from the state forests.
The state's largest district, Kangra, is worst affected (114,311 hectares), followed by Sirmaur, Solan and Bilaspur. Shimla district is the least affected (501 hectares).

"To root out lantana, a cut-root stock method has been adopted. After clearing the weed, it takes four years to re-green it with native high-rise foliage species," the minister said.
In 2016-17, the department had spent Rs 22.80 crore for eradicating the weed and for rehabilitating the lantana- affected land. The minister said its eradication was also carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, besides launching programmes under the Himachal Pradesh Forest Eco-System and Climate Proofing Project and the Himachal Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project.
Expressing apprehension over "huge expenditure" for eradicating the lantana, Rajeev Bindal of the BJP said that the technique used by the government to uproot the weed was not scientifically managed and unsound.

"Considering the speed with which the lantana is spreading across the state, it appears that 75 percent of the total area of the state will come under the weed in the next 20 years," he said.