JAMMU, APRIL 16: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today while addressing the 25th Steering Committee Meeting of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), emphasized on the department to work dedicatedly towards achieving the set targets in a given timeframe.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary took stock of the afforestation efforts made during the past year and the targets achieved during this time. He asked the officers to complete installation of Boundary Pillars (BPs) around the forests across J&K to ensure their protection.
He also enjoined upon the concerned to digitise these BPs in order to create digitized maps of all the forest areas. He urged them to give details of the areas treated in lieu of the forest areas that came under Hydro Electric Projects of Kwar, Kiru and Ratlehere.
Dulloo further remarked that forests are lungs of the earth guaranteeing its sustainability. He advised for adopting modern technology to map the highly degraded areas for its treatment on priority basis.
On the occasion, Commissioner Secretary, FE&E, Sheetal Nanda, informed the meeting about the role and responsibilities of the Steering Committee in deciding the future course of action to take up the CAMPA works during the year ahead.
She also made out that the Committee had an overarching role of monitoring the department’s activities besides giving necessary directions for utilization of resources to achieve the desired goals.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Suresh Kumar Gupta, gave out that the scheme is being implemented smoothly in the UT, obtaining tangible results over the years. He said that installation and digitization of BPs around the forests had been achieved to a larger extent with the left out forests to be demarcated in the year or two ahead.
He asserted that the department has established strong internal and social audit mechanisms, including inter-range and inter-divisional checks, alongside monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting formats to monitor the outcomes of this CAMPA scheme.
In addition, it was given out that the CAMPA budget has seen consistent increase over the years, peaking at Rs 153.67 crore in FY 2024-25 with corresponding increase in year-wise plantation efforts. These efforts are aimed at enhancing green cover, improving biodiversity, and mitigating the impact of climate change.
The Annual Plan Outlay (APO) for the fiscal year 2025–26 was presented and approved, with a total proposed outlay of Rs 193.72 crore, of which, Rs 170.47 crore have been proposed under the forest sector activities and Rs 23.25 crore under wildlife conservation.
Regarding different components of APO, the Compensatory Afforestation has an outlay of Rs 12.71 crore, Additional Compensatory Afforestation Rs 7.27 crore, NPV (Forest) Rs117.96 crore and NPV (Protected Areas) Rs 23.25 for the ensuing year.
The Committee also reviewed and approved several key targets for the upcoming fiscal year. These included Plantation & Assisted Natural Regeneration on 14,680 hectares, Soil & Moisture Conservation Works on 6,468 hectares, Forest Protection Works (Fencing etc.) on 8,087 hectares, Fire Protection Measures on 2,061 km (firelines), establishment of 163 Nurseries and plantation of 1.82 crore saplings to be planted generating 20.24 lakh casual labour man days across the UT.
Later, the Chief Secretary also released the ‘Annual Asian Water bird Census’ (AWC 2025) of 26 wetlands/ waterbodies of Kashmir valley. The Count was conducted simultaneously in all the major water-bodies along with lesser-known wetlands of the valley which included Hokersar, Shallabugh, Hygam, Mirgund, Wullar Lake Badinambal, Narkara, Nigeen Lake, (6 associated wetlands, Anchar Lake, Dal Lake, and wetlands from Pampore viz., Manibugh, Kranchoo, Chatlum and Fashkhoori.
