CHANDIGARH, May 22 -- Amid an intensified push for flood-control works ahead of the monsoon, the Punjab forest department has objected to the alleged exclusion of divisional forest officers (DFOs) from key disaster management meetings involving the temporary use of forest land, warning that such decisions could bypass mandatory legal safeguards and trigger ecological damage.

The issue has surfaced at a time when the Punjab government is set to hold a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of the chief secretary on Friday to discuss the use of forest land for flood mitigation and disaster management works in vulnerable riverine areas.

According to official communications issued by the Punjab department of water resources, the matter w...