World Bank to grant Rs 800 cr for watershed development project in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: The World Bank has agreed to grant Rs 800 crore for the second phase of the watershed development programme -- Gramya -- in Uttarakhand, after the success of the first phase of the project.

A World Bank team headed by Ranjan Samtre met Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain yesterday and cleared a proposal for granting Rs 800 crore for the watershed development project after holding detailed dicussions on it, according to an official release.

A decentralised watershed development programme will be launched over 10 lakh hectares of land under Gramya Phase-II in 550 gram panchayats spread over 10 hill districts of the state.

The seven-year programme will be implemented by gram panchayats through the Watershed Management Directorate.