Bhubaneswar: The state, in the last three years, has received a central grant of `11.5 crore for conservation and management of wetlands including lakes under the central schemes meant for such purposes.
According to statistics from the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment, it gave `11.5 crore since 2016 under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme of the Union government. Under the scheme, the Centre allocates funds to states to augment the conservation of wetlands in the state.
The data suggests that Odisha was allocated `0.399 crore during 2016-under the scheme. The sanctions increased manifolds during 2017-018 when the state received `6.16 crore under the scheme. The state under the mission in 2018-19 got `5.80 crore for wetlands conservation works under the scheme.
According to government statistics, Odisha is home to five wetlands identified at different points of time and taken into consideration for conservation methods. These include Chilika, Kuanria wetland, Daha wetland and Ansupa. The latest identified spot was Ansupa which was identified in 2008 while the earliest is Chilika which was identified as wetland at 1987.
The Ministry had been providing financial assistance to the states under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) for conservation and management of identified wetlands in the country till the year 2012-13. To have better synergy and avoid overlap, the schemes of NWCP and National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) have been merged into new integrated scheme namely ‘National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems’ (NPCA) in February, 2013.
So far, an amount of `969.90 crore has been released to the all states including Odisha for various conservation and management activities in wetlands including lakes.
