Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday met Union Forest and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi and urged the Centre to approve the Rs 262 crore Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme.
Rawat pointed out that a high number of human-animal conflict cases were reported each year in Uttarakhand and animals like monkeys, boars and nilgai damaged the crops.
The CM added that wildlife rescue centres need to be set up in the hilly areas to prevent leopard attacks and to protect crops from wild animals.
He said that these centres should be defined as forestry activities. Javadekar gave his in-principle approval at the request of the chief minister.
As per the state government’s release, the Chief Minister during the meeting said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic 19 lakh people of Uttarakhand have come back to their state.
“The state government has taken several steps including the Mukhyamantri Swarojgar Yojana for their employment.
Under the CAMPA scheme, a plan has been made to employ 10,000 people. Uttarakhand has played an important role in the conservation of environment and biodiversity.
To effectively curb human-wildlife conflict and forestry in the state, a proposal for additional funds of Rs 262.49 cr has been sent to the Ministry of Forests, Government of India, under CAMPA for 2020-21,” the release said.
