President emphasises on preventing deforestation and reconstructing reservoirs

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday instructed the relevant authorities to take immediate measures to prevent deforestation of the forest sustaining natural water bodies and construct reservoirs for agriculture in the hill country.

Participating in the Badulla district development committee meeting in Badulla, the President advised the officials to take stern action against those destroy the natural forest by engaging in timber smuggling and wild animal hunting, referring to the deforestation in Namunukula Mountains which feeds the natural water body of Dunhinda falls in Badulla district. The President called on the police, Department of Forest Conservation and Department of Wild Life to act jointly to achieve the objectives of forest conservation. Preventing forest fires was another objective that needs attention, he added.