MoEF approves Rs 196 cr to Maharashtra for afforestation

The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) today approved a sum of Rs 196 crore to Maharashtra for various afforestation activities.
The decision came after Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar held a meeting with Maharashtra Environment Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
Javadekar also said that once the Compensatory Afforestation Bill (CAF) is passed, Maharashtra will get nearly Rs 2,000 crore under it.
The Environment Ministry has been holding a series of meetings with states on ad hoc CAMPA and had yesterday held meetings with ministers of Telangana and Rajasthan.
"Today we had a good meeting on afforestation and forest development in the state. Rs 196 crore have been approved for Maharashtra for afforestation," he said.

Mungantiwar said Maharashtra government will be planting two crore trees on July 1 with the participation of people in the state.

The Ministry had yesterday sanctioned Rs 164 crore for Rajasthan and Rs 156 crore for Telangana, following a meeting on CAMPA with the two states.
The CAF was cleared by the Lok Sabha in May 2016. The CAMPA corpus currently stands around Rs 42,000 crore.
The CAF Bill once passed will pave the way for expeditious utilisation of funds realised for forest land diverted to non-forest purposes in a transparent manner.
The Bill will also ensure utilisation of accumulated unspent funds already available with CAMPA.