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| States to get 'green' bonus for forest cover |
| Shishir Prashant / Dehra Dun Sep 07, 2009, 00:29 IST |
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The Centre today announced ‘green’ bonus and dividends for states maintaining their forest cover and said it would hire a consultant to look into the environment problems related to hydropower projects on the river Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand.
“A plan is being worked out to give green bonus and dividends to states which effectively maintain their green cover and improve it,” said Union Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh at a conference on climate change here.
“This would be taken a step further and financial incentives would then be given for local self-governments. Such incentives are necessary for these states, as they are under tremendous economic pressure to do away with forests,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh’s comments assume significance as India is rapidly transforming into a ‘carbon sink’ which ignites hopes of big funds for maintaining the natural cover. A recent report ‘Forest and Tree Cover’, prepared by the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment, said from 1995 to 2005, the carbon stocks stored in the forests and trees have increased from 6,245 million tonnes (mt) to 6,662 mt, registering an annual increment of 38 mt of carbon or 138 mt of carbon dioxide. The report also says India can get Rs 6,000 crore every year from its carbon sink, assuming the value of $7 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
Referring to the series of agitations by environmentalists against the proposed hydro electric projects on the Bhagirathi, the minister said the National Ganga River Basin Authority, set up under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would study the sustainable use of water in the Ganga system.
“We are moving from a project-based approach to a basin-based approach,” he said. Ramesh added that the government had decided to hire a consultant for the same and 30 bids had been received so far for planning the entire basin.
A similar authority is also being planned for the Teesta river in Sikkim.
Significantly, three big projects — 600-Mw Lohari Nagpala (to be built by state-run NTPC) as well 480-Mw Pala Maneri and 381-Mw Bhaironghati (Uttarakhand government) — on the river Bhagirathi were suspended after a prolonged agitation by a group of environmentalists led by G D Agrawal.
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