Raipur, Nov 25 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government hasdecided to take up water conservation works on a large scalein forest areas of the state, a senior official said today.
Forest Minister Mahesh Gagda today gave the greensignal to the Rs 250-crore plan while chairing a meeting ofhis department officials, he said.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) R K Tamtaand other officials were present in the meeting.
As per the plan, about 1,306 water conservationstructures, including stop dams, canals, small ponds andwaterholes, would be built at a cost of around Rs 250 crore inforest areas under the jurisdiction of the Van PrabhandanSamiti (forest management committees), he said.
These structures will be constructed through severalschemes, including the rural job scheme MNREGA and theCompensatory Afforestation Fund Management and PlanningAuthority (CAMPA), he added.
In the first phase of the project, water conservationfacilities will be developed in Raigarh forest division, underBilaspur forest circle, which is currently facing an elephantmenace, the official said.
The water bodies will provide relief to elephants andstop them from straying outside the forests into villages andat the same time act as a source of irrigation for farmers, hesaid.
The thick forested northern part of the state,comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Koreadistricts, is known for human-elephant conflict.
The region has witnessed several killings of tribalsand widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue elephantsin the past few years.
According to forest officials, the forest area of thestate is around 59,772 sq km, which is 44.21 per cent of thestate's geographical area (1,35,191 sq km). PTI TKP BNMRSY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.