India’s green mission caught in funds’ crunch (June 5 is World Environment Day)

environicstrust

ndia‘s ambitious plans to fight climate change by enhancing the forest cover at a cost of Rs. 46,000 crore by 2020 have been stuck with no funds available since it was cleared by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change in 2011.

The Green India Mission, one of eight such under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), had aimed to increase the forest cover by five million hectares and improve the quality of forests on another five million hectares.

“The Green India Mission has stopped as there are no funds coming. At the time of the mission’s announcement, it was decided that funds will come from a number of ministries and the Planning Commission,” V. Rajagopalan, secretary, environment ministry, told IANS.

“About Rs.2,000 crore was to come under NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) from the rural development ministry while the Planning Commission was also to give…

View original post 265 more words