Rs. 8.23 works underway for soil, water conservation under Green India Mission

Bhopal: Works for soil and water conservation under the Green India Mission are underway in 70 Joint Forest Management Committees in seven districts of the state including Hoshangabad, Betul, Balaghat, Seoni, Sagar, Barwani and Shivpuri district. The state has received Rs. 8 crore 23 lakh for these works.
The State Government has sent proposal worth Rs. 560 crore for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14 after identifying 16 landscapes in 46 forest divisions under the mission. The proposed landscapes include Pench-Satpura Corridor, Kanha-Bandhavgarh Corridor, Kanha-Pench Corridor, Pench Landscape, Shivpuri-Gwalior, Indore-Ujjain, Khandwa, Anuppur, Rewa, Bhopal, Panna, Ratapani Nauradehi, Satpura Melghat, Narmada Criterion Zone Management, Bhoj Wetland and catchment areas of major dams.
Under the Green India Mission, works pertaining to soil and water conservation, plantations in forest areas, development of forest cover outside forest areas, making jobs available through Joint Forest Management Committees, development of wetlands, leveling of land after mining in mines and development of wildlife corridor between unprotected areas.
It is noteworthy that the Union Government has constituted 8 missions under the National Climate Change Action Plan for cushioning the adverse effects of fast increasing global warming. Green India Mission is one of them. Under the mission, a target has been set to conserve 5-6 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide through upgrading degraded forests till the year 2020 and planting saplings in non-forest areas.
A target has also been set under the mission to upgrade degraded forests in 50 lakh hectare area in the country and develop forest cover in 50 lakh hectares at a cost of Rs. 46 thousand crore.