State gets Rs 309 crore CAMPA fund
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR
New Delhi, August 29 2019:
The State Government today received Rs 309 crore from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) from the Centre to undertake compensatory afforestation efforts and other activities to preserve environment.
State Forest and Environment Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar today received a cheque amounting to Rs 309 crore from the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar at a conference held for Forest Ministers at Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road, Aliganj, New Delhi.
Speaking to the DIPR, Forest and Environment Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar said that it is a major boost for environmental conservation and protection activities in the State and combat the issue of climate change.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today disbursed the CAMPA funds amounting to Rs 47,436 crore to 27 States namely; Manipur, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Sikkim, Goa, West Bengal, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The fund will be utilised for compensatory afforestation, wildlife management, forest fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation works in forests, voluntary relocation of villages from protected areas, management of biological resources and biodiversity, research in forestry and monitoring of CAMPA works and activities provided in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Rules, 2018.Judicious utilisation of CAMPA funds by the States and UTs for strengthening forests will not only help to achieve the goals enshrined in the National Forest Policy but would also improve the quality, productivity, sustainability of forests.
Agendas on Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act & Rules, raising of plantations to achieve the NDC target, growing trees including palm, rubber and bamboo etc outside forest and facilities of doing business, integrated catchment areas, treatment and distribution of CAMPA funds to the States were discussed at the conference held today.