Bill for statutory afforestation fund introduced in LS

NEW DELHI: A Bill to establish a statutory fund and a Management Authority to undertake a massive afforestation programme was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Piloting the Bill, Minister of State for Environment and Forests S Reghupathy said the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2008 envisages creation of a statutory fund and a Management Authority which would be responsible for administering the afforestation programme called "Green India."

The Authority will oversee watershed development, forest conservation works and ensure transparency in the Green India programme besides mobilising support of citizens.

It will also utilise financial resources, partly provided under the Fund and mobilise resources from the market.

The Bill also empowers the Authority to invest its funds in government securities and in scheduled banks.

The Bill also envisages adopting a principle of allocation to states and Union Territories based on the share contributed by them.

The Supreme Court in an order in 2003 had observed that a compensatory afforestation fund should be created and the money deposited by user agencies utilised for plantation, protection of forests and wildlife and related activities.