Bengal gets Rs 117.07 crore from Nabard

Fund to include sanctions for infrastructure, forestry and agricultural projects

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 117.07 crore under Rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF) XV to West Bengal.

This fund is for construction of 29 rural road projects (Rs 94.76 crore), 11 flood protection projects (Rs 15.84 crore), one joint forest management project (Rs 4.16 crore) and agricultural farm projects (Rs 2.31 crore).

For improving rural connectivity, an amount of Rs 94.76 crore has been sanctioned for construction and improvement of 29 Rural Road Projects in 10 districts of West Bengal, viz North 24 Praganas, East Medinipur, South 24 Praganas, Nadia, Coochbehar, Murshidabad, Malda, Burdhwan, Jalpaiguri and Bankura districts. A total road length of 229.52 km is expected to be created. The non-recurring employment generation is expected to be 4.4 million man days under these projects.

 

With nearly 43 per cent of the state’s geographical area being flood prone posing a constant threat to agricultural land and human habitats, Rs 15.84 crore has been sanctioned for flood protection projects to protect 12,743 hectares of land in Jalpaiguri, Malda, Hooghly, Burdwan, South 24 Parganas, Dakshin Dinajpur, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura Districts. The projects are expected to benefit a population of 1,34,000 in 70 villages. They are expected to generate recurring employment of 8,688 jobs per year and non-recurring employment of 8,35,000 mandays.

The joint forest management envisages participation of forest fringe villagers in regeneration and protection of forest through formation of Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) and requisite infrastructural interventions. An amount of Rs 4.16 crore has been sanctioned for Joint Forest Management project at Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district. The project envisages regeneration of 24,000 ha of forest land. Other major activities include soil and moisture conservation, physical infrastructure development, and capacity building. The non-recurring employment generation under this project is expected to be 10.5 million man days.

An amount of Rs 2.31 crore has been sanctioned for providing additional infrastructure facilities to six existing agriculture farms in the East Medinipur district, in order to enable them to increase the production of quality seeds, properly store the seeds and protect the farm area from stray cattle.