Nabard sanctions Rs 44 crore for forest conservation

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 44.20 crore for forest conservation in six districts of West Bengal.

The six districts covered under the project are Bardhaman, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, Paschim Medinipur and Purulia, covering an area of 17,785 hectares. The projects aim at regeneration and development of degraded forests, and enhance biological diversity; augment availability of fuel wood, fodder and grasses from the regenerated areas; secure people's participation in planning and regeneration efforts to ensure sustainability and equitable distribution of forest products, said a press release from Nabard.

This apart, one of the objectives of the project is improvement of Sal coppice forest in south Bengal through coppice-induced regeneration. The projects will be implemented by the forest department, government of West Bengal, with the participation of forest protection committees (FPCs). The projects are expected to generate non-recurring employment of 11.33 lakh mandays.

Since the inception of rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF), Nabard has sanctioned 32,096 projects with a loan component of Rs 6285.25 crore to the government of West Bengal. The major investments include, rural connectivity project worth Rs 3118.12 crore, irrigation and flood protection of Rs 1287.55 crore, social sector projects amounting to Rs 493.27 crore and other sectors worth Rs 1261.06 crore.

The financial assistance under RIDF would add a road length of 11344 km, construction of 19,165 metres of bridge length, create additional irrigation potential of 7.40 lakh hectare of agricultural land, protection from flood and inundation covering an area of 4.84 lakh hectare, besides infrastructure creation in marketing, power, joint forest management, rural industrial estates, health, education, and drinking water, said the Nabard press release.