post news network
Bhubaneswar, August 10: Following death of children in Nagada of Jajpur district allegedly due to malnourishment, the state government Wednesday directed the forest department officials to provide road connectivity to remote habitations located in forest areas by using CAMPA funds.
A state-level steering committee on CAMPA headed by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi Wednesday decided to utilise `54-crore CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) fund for development of physical infrastructure in remote pockets of the state.
Padhi directed the forest department to ensure road connectivity to remote habitations and villages inside forest areas to facilitate delivery of essential services to the people there.
Additional principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) Subash Chandra Swain said the state government has so far received around `1,155 crore from CAMPA of which around `1,100 crore has been utilised under different Annual Plan of Operations (APOs) till 2014-15 fiscal.
Besides, the state government has also received `70.36 crore as interest from state CAMPA fund of which plans have been chalked out for `54 crore.
The APO for 2015-16 fiscal worth `516 crore was prepared in April this year and sent to the Centre for its approval and release of funds. However, the state is yet to get the fund, Swain added.
The principal projects included soil and moisture conservation, training, increasing green cover, construction of Aranya Bhawan, remote sensing, GIS survey and mapping among others.
Participating in the discussion, development commissioner R Balakrishnan advised the department to have one unified GIS and remote sensing cell in Orissa Space Application Centre (ORSAC) to avoid duplication in efforts and resources.
Sources said professional and training experts have been engaged in all forest training institutes and steps have been taken for establishment of State Forest Academy in Bhubaneswar. For the purpose, 30 acre of land has been identified at Shyamsundarpur under Bhubaneswar tehsil.
The government has asked all the divisional forest officers (DFOs) to set up seedling sale centers in their respective divisions and ranges to promote plantation drives in private land. The chief secretary advised them to make available fruit bearing species for the purpose.