Central Government on Thursday sanctioned Rs 1040 crore for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for greening Punjab.
“Punjab Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot received a sanction letter to this effect from the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi,” said a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office.
The spokesperson said that the Union Minister has also appreciated the concerted efforts of the State Government for making afforestation a mass-movement with schemes like ‘Ghar Ghar Hariyali’ and planting 550 trees in each village during the 550th prakash purb celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.
The State intends to utilise this money in a phased manner to realise its five-year perspective plan to increase its green cover as per the directives of the Chief Minister.
It may be recalled that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh wrote a letter to Prakash Javadekar on August 19 after reviewing the functioning of the Forest Department on August 17, urging the Union Minister to direct the concerned officials to transfer the requisite funds due to Punjab immediately so as to enable the state to carry out the activities as per the provisions of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act-2016.