Principal secretary of the department, Subes Das, said, "We have been sanctioned Rs 400 crore by JICA. We are to start work on urban forestry projects with the funds from this year itself," Das said.
Earlier, an agreement had been signed between JICA and the Centre for receiving the loan. Sources said the amount will be used for developing urban forestry, conservation of biodiversity and wildlife preservation. The fund will also help the forest department to increase green cover in urban areas. The green cover in the city has been on the decline over the past few years due to rampant felling of trees and poor maintenance.
If figures are to be considered, the city's green cover has already gone down by five percent and there is an urgent need to protect and preserve all open green spaces both in the city and its suburbs. In most cases, trees have been felled to make way for billboards and infrastructure projects, while the saplings that were planted withered away due to poor maintenance.
Sources pointed out that certain stretches off VIP Road and EM Bypass, where trees have been chopped off mercilessly, have suffered the worst. This apart, several large trees have been felled in even in other parts of the city. Many trees also had to be hacked to make way for infrastructure projects like flyovers, but the compensatory plantation have not been done properly.
According to officials, one of the biggest problems for the department is the shortage of manpower. Though the forest department and the KMC conduct tree-plantation programmes every year, many of the saplings die due to lack of maintenance.
Of late, the state government has been working on some urban forestry projects in and around the city. An eco-park has been set up on a 480acre waterbody and is slated to be inaugurated on December. There will also be a rain forest zone and a plantation area in the park.
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