HYDERABAD: With an objective to mobilise funds for enhancing green cover, the State government on Friday came up with an innovative idea and constituted Telangana Green Fund (Haritha Fund). People’s representatives, employees, students as well as general public will contribute to the fund so that they would have a sense of participation in the green drive.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced this new initiative in the State Legislative Assembly during a short discussion on “Haritha Haram in Telangana State”. Right from students to All India Service (AIS) officers will contribute to the fund from anywhere between Rs 5 to Rs 100.The Chief Minister also said one would have to pay Rs 50 during the registration of documents and Rs 1,000 during the renewal of government licences. The government is expecting to raise around Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore for the Green Fund annually.
Rao spoke extensively about the plantation drive in the State even while explaining various initiatives taken up in other countries and also referred to Great Green Wall of China and Green Party of New Zealand. He said that the per capita trees were 10,163 in Canada and 4,964 in Greenland. The per capita trees in Australia were 3,266, America 699, France 203, Ethiopia 143, China 130 and the UK 47. But in India it was just 28, he said and added: “I have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the lead and start a peoples’ movement for developing greenery in the country.”
The CM also said that the survival of saplings planted under Haritha Haram was between 80 to 95 per cent. “Our target is to plant 230 crore saplings. In forest areas out of a target of 100 crore saplings, 60.66 crore have already been planted,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that in HMDA and GHMC areas, against the target of 10 crore, 14.5 crore saplings have been planted. “In other parts of the State, 162.77 crore saplings against the target of 120 crore were planted. Similarly, outside forest areas, 176.6 crore saplings were planted against the target of 130 crore saplings,” he said.
The CM said that the State has so far spent Rs 6,555 crore under Haritha Haram, out of which Rs 1,112 crore were from the State government budget, Rs 1,320 Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAMPA) funds, Rs 3,673 crore NREGA funds, Rs 367 crore from HMDA and Rs 83 crore from GHMC funds.
He said that this year the Green Budget available with rural local bodies is Rs 415.47 crore and with urban local bodies its Rs 841 crore. Rao, who also spoke about Palle Prakruti Vanams and Bruhat Prakruti Vanams, said that out of 1,00,156 km roads in the State, avenue plantation was taken up on 82,491 km and said that the State government received Rs 3,109 crore CAMPA funds out of total Rs 4,675 crore.