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Himachal Pradesh Launches Rs 100 Crore Afforestation Scheme and Steps Up Disaster Funding

Local community groups will tend saplings for five years under the scheme; compensation rates for damaged homes have been raised; a Rs 3,000 crore disaster-mitigation project has been proposed.

Himachal chief minster Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu planting a sapling on Thursday. (HT Photo)
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Overview

  • Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inaugurated the 76th state-level Van Mahotsav in Shimla on August 14 and launched the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana with a Rs 100 crore budget targeting 9,000 hectares of forest land.
  • An initial Rs 20 crore allocation will fund planting on 1,000–1,500 hectares this year, with Rs 1.2 lakh per hectare earmarked for five-year upkeep by mahila mandals, yuvak mandals and self-help groups.
  • The government announced an additional Rs 100 crore in immediate relief and raised compensation for fully damaged houses from Rs 1.3 lakh to Rs 7 lakh and for partial damage from Rs 12,500 to Rs 1 lakh.
  • A Rs 3,000 crore disaster-mitigation project was unveiled to safeguard livelihoods and infrastructure against increasingly frequent cloudbursts and flash floods.
  • Sukhu also inaugurated the first ‘zero waste’ tribal festival in Keylong, launched mandatory heroin testing in police recruitment with an Anti-Chitta Volunteer Scheme and laid the foundation for five PMGSY Phase-3 bridges.