Rs 56 cr allocated for WB Environment Deptt in budget

A Rs 56.89 crore budget for the Environment Department of West Bengal government was passed in the state Assembly today. Placing the budget proposal, state Environment Minister Dr Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar said the budget allocation has been raised three-fold from Rs 18 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 56.89 crore in just about four years. He said this goes on to show that the present dispensation in the state was more serious about ensuring a clean environment for the people of the state than the previous Left Front regime. Stating that the government was working towards giving a healthy environment, the Minister said it has taken initiative to enhance awareness. He said students were being taken for visits to biodiversity centres for environmental education and two places in Darjeeling have been declared biodiversity heritage sites, including the hamlet of Tonglu. Stating that the environment department in the state was very active, Dastidar said the Centre for Science and Research has said the West Bengal Pollution Control Board was the most effective among similar bodies in all the states of the country.