Need of the hour! With 47,000 crore fund release, govt calls for compulsory afforestation
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New Delhi, Aug. 29: The climate change is here and, as one of the largest countries in the world, India is going to suffer huge consequences of this change. Taking this caution on agenda, the Environment Ministry of India has discharged more than Rs 47,000 to 27 state governments to take strong steps and compensatory afforestation efforts and other activities to preserve the environment.
The funds were transferred under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), given by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Apart from compensatory afforestation, which is undertaken to make up for forest lands which have been taken over for non-forest use, the funds will be spent for other green efforts such as wildlife management, moisture conservation, forest fire-prevention, and biodiversity management.
Funds collected for compensatory afforestation have historically been underutilized by states, despite a number of interventions by the Supreme Court. A proposed statute, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority bill, has been drafted to tackle this problem but has yet not passed both Houses of Parliament to become law.