 "270 urban forest projects approved since 2020: Govt tells Parliament")
The Environment Ministry has since 2020 approved 270 projects under the Nagar Van Yojana to develop urban forests in the country, Parliament was told on Thursday
Environment minister Ashwani Kumar Chaubey told the Rajya Sabha that Rs 238.64 crore was used on the 270 urban forest projects: 67 per cent of the 400 envisaged.
“The Ministry has approved 270 projects under Nagar Van Yojana with the total cost of Rs 238.64 Crore till date, which includes an amount of Rs 57.14 crore for creation of 97 Nagar Van/Vatika during 2022-23,” Chaubey said.
The Nagar Van Yojana was launched on World Environment Day on June 5, 2020 with 200 corporations and cities across India. The project develops green lungs in urban areas sparse in forests.
It envisages developing 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatikas in India from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The objective is to enhance green cover, biodiversity and ecological benefits in urban areas apart from improving quality of life of city dwellers with the funds under the National Fund of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
Forest cover has increased 68 square km in major cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai Tamil, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai) between India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2011 and ISFR 2021, as per the data the minister gave in the Rajya Sabha.
During the ISFR 2011 a total of 441.72 square kilometre land was under forest cover as against 509.72 during the ISFR 2021, the data revealed.
The total estimated cost of Nagar Van Yojana is Rs.895 crore for the period of 2020-21 to 2024-25 for implementation from the National Funds under CAMPA.
According to a Lok Sabha answer in August 2022, 173 projects were sanctioned under Nagar Van Yojana in 2020-22. Odisha topped the list of most projects cleared in any state, with 40. Odisha was followed by Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
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