HP demands release of Rs 325 cr from CAMPA fund: Minister

The Himachal Pradesh government has urged the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) to release Rs 325 crore erroneously deposited by the Defence ministry with interest, state Forest minister Thakur Singh Bharmauri said today.
Bharmauri said that the total cost of trees on 732.78 hectares forest land for establishing Strategic National Security Project at Paonta Sahib in district Sirmaur by Defence Research and Development Organisation of Ministry of Defence had worked out to be Rs 277.19 crore.
The Defence ministry had deposited Rs 240 crore in June, 2010 and Rs 37.19 crore in January, 2011 with the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority and the amount of Rs 325 crore is lying with it, he said.

Out of this amount, Rs 277.19 crore was to be given to Himachal but it was deposited in CAMPA fund by mistake by the Defence Ministry and no sanction in principle to transfer the cost of trees to state government was given in the meeting of Union Environment and Forest Ministry on November 12, 2011, Bharmauri said.
He said it was decided that the funds which accrued to the state at the cost of forest ecology should form part of the CAMPA funds which were being retained as separate corpus on the basis of orders of Supreme Court of India.

He said that this issue was under consideration of National CAMPA Advisory Council who had sent it to a High Powered Committee.
The forest minister said that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had also taken up this issue with Union Environment and Forest minister Jayanti Natrajan on July 18, 2013.
This issue was also considered in 24th meeting of Adhoc CAMPA on August 8, 2013 after receiving recommendation from High Level Committee which recommended transfer the proceeds on account of cost of trees of the project to the state government, he said.