Go Green

Shillong, May 29: The joint forest management committees in fringe villages of Meghalaya have led to people’s participation in conservation.

This was revealed during a presentation made by the state government before the Planning Commission in New Delhi yesterday, where it was highlighted that the forest cover has marginally increased from 75.74 per cent in the Tenth Plan period to 77.02 per cent in the Eleventh Plan period.

There are approximately 4,000 forest fringe villages in the state and 285 joint forest management committees at the village/cluster level. Through such committees, an area of 261.4 square km has been brought under green cover and the aim is to increase such committees to 500 by 2017.

The state government pointed out that people’s participation through such a forest committee had transformed a barren hillock to green forest at Umniangrang in three years.

In view of the peculiar land tenure system in Meghalaya, 94 per cent (16,248 square km) of forest cover is under private ownership. But for the first time, this forestland will be brought under the working schemes, with assistance of the North Eastern Space Applications Centre, Umiam, by November this year.

In 2012-13, 79 biodiversity management committees have been formed while the location of 115 sacred groves in Meghalaya has been mapped through Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

However, these conservation figures were presented amid allegations that cement companies in Jaintia hills have been indulging in largescale destruction of forests for mining limestone.

With the rampant coal mining being seen as a source of environment degradation, chief minister Mukul Sangma yesterday informed the plan panel that under the mining policy, introduced in November last year, mining is envisaged to be gradually “regulated”. Illegal mining will be put to an end within a year, he said.

Regarding water manage ment, the state government said the draft of the state water policy has been finalised and it is likely to be put into operation within the next three months.

A master plan for integrated water resource management is currently being prepared by Water and Power Consultancy Services (Wapcos), a government enterprise under the Union ministry of water resources, and likely to be completed within three months.

A scheme for small multi-purpose reservoirs costing Rs 29.15 crore has been sanctioned.

The commission yesterday also agreed on a Plan size of Rs 4,151 crore for Meghalaya for the 2013-14 fiscal, an increase of Rs 212 crore from the preceding fiscal.