₹300 crore grant for forests cancelled

Blocks funds transfer order from Pollution Control Board to Forest department

₹300 crore grant for forests cancelled

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್

Bengaluru: The order to transfer ₹300 crore grant from the State Pollution Control Board to the Forest Department has been cancelled.

On November 27, 2024, the Finance Department had given permission to the Forest Department to receive ₹300 crore grant from the State Pollution Control Board for the construction of ‘Elephant Barricades’ in various districts of the state to prevent afforestation and elephant infestation. The Pollution Control Board did not approve this. However, the Finance Department had informed the Principal Secretary of the Forest Department in an unofficial note by fixing the account title for transferring the money.

Also read …Pollution Control Board funds to prevent elephant menace

A special report on this was published in ‘Prajavani’ on December 3, 2024 under the title ‘₹426 crore for forests: Board blocked’. The issue was discussed in the State Pollution Control Board meeting, and members opposed the grant.

"It was suggested to transfer ₹150 crore for afforestation work and ₹150 crore for construction of elephant barricades. There is no need to give money to the Forest Department in the form of grants for these works," the Principal Secretary of the Forest Department wrote to the Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board on January 7, 2025.