Shimla: By incorporating lessons learnt in Costa Rica about sustainable management of natural resources, the Himachal government is preparing a comprehensive environment plan that would be put to World Bank for funding; the Himachal assembly was told today.
In response to a question by Gangu Ram Mussafir (Congress) who sought to know what the state stood to gain by the delegation led by chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal that recently visited Costa Rica, forest minister JP Nadda responded that a Rs 365 crore environment plan would be submitted to the World Bank after incorporating the experiences of the study tour to the central American country in the field of environment.
The eight-member HP team led by chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, which also included Nadda had toured Costa Rica and in between had also met chairman of the World Bank during the February 10 to February 19, 2010 visit.
The minister said that if approved, the World Bank funding of the project would be available as 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent soft loan.
Speaking about the tour, the minister said that Costa Rica’s efficient environment management system had helped it to increase its forest cover from 21 per cent to 51 per cent in the last two decades. The government is study ways and means to adopt Costa Rica system of payment made for environment services delivered among others.
He said that the BJP government was committed for making the state carbon neutral and for achieving such an objective a drive to plant broad leave trees in 4000 hectares would be started.
The minister also informed the house that the chief minister in his meeting with the World Bank chief sought extension of the Mid Himalayan Watershed Project from the present 602 panchayats to over 2000 panchayats in the hill state.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
never will they stop stunning us ..the mere mortals…world bank and its politics ..IMF and its politics is know to all now..its funny that the govt of HP can still fool its people like this…without reading much on the issue ..one persistent thought is that why does the govet need such huge loan to grwo trees!!!!! what went wrong with the unspent funds with the local MLA and MP..what went wrong with Local ecological knowledge and its useage..what went wrong with farmers collectivization and response from civil society…has the govt even thought of such alternatives…on one hand such heft loans on other hand dam after dam and cement factory after cement factory…dhumals son making a resort o n a hill..he gets rich and we grow trees with world bank money an dthe pay tax so that the govt can pay back the loan…how neat..how calculated. himachal is on its way to be doomed.if not questioned and made to answer.