KARACHI, Sept 2: A spokesman for the Forest and Wildlife Department, Sindh, commenting on a news item captioned “Water shortage cause of vanishing forests in Sindh,” which appeared in a section of the press on September 1, has said that according to the factual position, the forest secretary had informed the press in Hyderabad on August 30 on the occasion of handing over of cheques to the heirs of two deceased forest trainees that the matter of encroachment of forest lands had been taken up with the higher authorities.

Action will be taken on merit. He did not name any agency or authority.

The spokesman further said that the ADB-assisted Sindh Forestry Development Project is under investigation by the NAB and the outcome is not known to the department. As regards project implementation, it has been appreciated in many respects by the monitoring team of the ADB.