CHAPTER-III
APPRAISAL REPORTS OF MAJOR PROJECTS/PROGRAMMES
COSTING Rs. 100 CRORES OR MORE
208. INDIAN COUNCIL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH & EDUCATION (ICFRE),
DEHRADUN
ICFRE does not have any mega
project costing Rs.100 crore or more.
However we are running – 212 research projects under plan and 49 new
projects were initiated in the current
financial year. Some of the projects completed recently are –
Computerization of Herbarium of Forest Research
Institute, Dehradun, Studies on isolation and characterization of
polysaccharides of abundantly available seeds of trees/shrubs, leaves, bark and
exudate gums, Wood quality parameters for improving planting stock of Bambusa arundinacea, Pseudooxytenanthera
stocksii and Dendrocalamus strictus, Plasticisation of palms and bamboo, Analysis of wood and its constituents by
fluorescence and FTIR spectroscopic technique - a non-destructive tool for
rapid characterisation of wood, Developing tissue culture protocols for
important forest tree species: (a) Teak and
(b) Gmelina
arborea, Standardization of improved nursery
techniques for different multipurpose forest tree species of central India,
Biodiversity studies in protected areas: (a) Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, M.P.
and (b) Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Orissa, Comparative studies on the
ecology of degraded forests viz.- a -viz. relatively undisturbed forests in
different eco-climatic zones of the region,
Assessment of conservation status of Hill Bamboos (Nirgals), collection of germplasm from various
eco-climatic zones in Sutlej catchment area and establishment of germplasm
bank, Development of suitable
models for afforestation of mined areas,
Standardization of containerized nursery practices for selected forest
tree species, Standardization of seed handling procedures for commercially
important medicinal plants of forest ecosystems, Standardization of seed
handling techniques for tropical recalcitrant seeds, Management of seed and soil borne diseases of Gmelina arborea and Dipterocarpus retusus in nursery, Development of VAM as
biofertilizer for some economically important forest plant species of Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh, Isolation and evaluation of Rhizobium from leguminous forest trees in nurseries of three
districts of Assam.
209. ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS AND SANCTUARIES
It is an ongoing scheme to facilitate better management of the National Parks and Sanctuaries. National Wildlife Action Plan lays emphasis on setting up of bio-geographically representative network of protected areas for improving the management. As a result today we have 500 sanctuaries and 92 national parks covering an area of 15.67 million hectare.
During the IXth Five Year Plan the objectives of three ongoing schemes namely: Development of National parks and Sanctuaries, Eco development in and around protected areas and Beneficiary oriented Tribal Development Schemes were found to be overlapping and mutually supplementary. It has also been experience in implementation of GEF/UNDP funded India Eco-development project that it is necessary to incorporate eco development activities in the frame work of general management of National parks and sanctuaries. Further, Planning Commission has also issued guidelines to club the schemes having similar objectives. Considering these facts, during the Xth Plan period it was decided to merge the above mentioned three schemes to have a single (umbrella ) scheme in the name "Development of National Parks and Sanctuaries' This scheme include all the activities of these three schemes.
Objectives
of the scheme: The main objectives of the Scheme are:
1.
To assist the States and Union Territories in
the development of National Parks and Sanctuaries and encourage them to extend
this network through financial assistance.
2.
To create infrastructure facilities for better
protection and management of these PAs.
3.
To provide financial assistance for training,
capacity building and research studies.
4.
To provide alternatives for bio-resources from
PAs and for sustenance to the communities living on the fringes of national
parks and sanctuaries.
5.
To improve the ecological productivities for
the buffer zones of PAs through the introduction of sustainable resources
amelioration activities.
6.
To engender the active involvement of these
communities in protecting these sanctuaries and national parks and their
wildlife through a well designed package of activities aimed at providing
sustenance to them and mitigate their hardships.
7.
To minimise conflict between these communities
ad protection staff.
8.
Relocation and rehabilitation of the people
living inside the protected areas to outside.
Allocation during Xth Plan: Rs.
350.00 crores.
Pattern of funding:
100% assistance is provided for
non-recurring item of expenditure for both national parks and sanctuaries.
50% cost of recurring expenditure is also provided for National parks
where the State Govt. provides 50% of the matching share.
National parks and sanctuaries in high mountain regions, coastal zones
and deserts and supporting large number of endangered species like Snowleopard,
Red panda, Rhino, Sanghai deer, Phary's leaf monkey, Musk deer, Hangul, Great
Indian Bustard, Marine Turtle are also eligible for 100% central assistance
for both recurring and non recurring items for expenditure including salary of
incremental staff.
210. PROJECT TIGER
Project Tiger is a centrally sponsored continuing
scheme. Focused project has a holistic approach for conserving
the eco-system in its totality by focusing initiatives on the flagship species
— tiger.
Project Tiger was launched in 1973 with an objective “to ensure maintenance of a
viable population of Tigers in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural
and ecological values and to preserve for all time areas of biological
importance as a national
heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people”.
The Project has been successfully implemented, and at
present there are Twenty Eight Tiger
Reserves in Seventeen States, covering an area of 37761 sq. km. The
selection of reserves was guided by the need to conserve unique
ecosystem/habitat types across the geographic distribution of tigers in the
country. Project Tiger is undisputably the custodian of major gene pool of the
country and a repository of some of the most valuable ecosystem and habitats
for wildlife.
For
the purpose of management, tiger reserves are constituted on a ‘core – buffer’ strategy. In core area, forestry operations, collection
of minor forest produce, grazing, human settlement and other biotic
disturbances are not allowed and is singularly oriented towards conservation.
The buffer zone is managed as a ‘multiple
use area’ with conservation oriented land use, having the twin objectives of providing habitat supplement to the
spillover population of wild animals from the core, apart from facilitating site
specific eco developmental
inputs to stake holder communities. The
main thrust of the project is
protection and mitigation of deleterious biotic impacts with a view to
comprehensively revive the natural ecosystem in the reserves for fostering
a viable population of tigers,
co-predators and herbivore.
This is an
ongoing project and is continued in the X Five Year Plan. Preservation of threatened species, establishment of a
network of protected areas, their maintenance and development have been
accorded high priority in the National Wildlife Action Plan. In pursuance of this and as detailed above, the scheme has been
continued in the X Five Year Plan, alongwith the merger of two existing schemes (eco-development and beneficiary
oriented tribal development) with their original components of activities.
Nature of the
scheme :
This is a centrally sponsored (Plan) scheme. As stated earlier, 100% Central assistance would be provided for non-recurring expenditure and 50% Central assistance would be provided for recurring ones. The major non-recurring activities are construction of buildings, development of communication - road, wireless etc., purchase of various equipments, scientific items, protections, development of water facilities, eco-development works, shifting of villages and cattle, miscellaneous tools, development of veterinary research and compensation to the legal heirs of staff/person killed while performing official duty of Tiger Reserve, and any other non-recurring item specific to the Tiger Reserves. The recurring activities are allowance of the staff, habitat improvement, salt lick, water facilities, fire protection, maintenance of various items, publicity and extension, protection measures and legal assistance for dealing with wildlife offences and any other item, recurring in nature, specific to the Tiger Reserve.
The Project Tiger Directorate has
constituted a group of experts/professionals for regional monitoring of Tiger
Reserves, as per the normative guidelines of the Ministry of Environment &
Forests. A standardized format has also been prescribed in this regard to
ensure uniformity and facilitate comparison.
Achievements/Returns
expected - other economic implications :
The Project would be completing three eventful decades shortly. It has been acclaimed internationally as one of the greatest conservation ventures in modern times, not only for putting the tiger on an assured course of recovery from the brink of extinction, but more for saving the floral and faunal genetic diversity in some of our unique and endangered wilderness areas. The adoption of a total ecosystem approach has resulted in an overall improvement of habitat, an increase in number of wildlife with better dispersal leading to efficacious utilisation of habitat in the tiger reserves.
The activities under the Project generate employment for both regular personnel and daily wagers. Among the regular personnel are senior technical officers and field professionals besides staff for protection and enforcement. Both protection and developmental activities under the project are labour intensive and generate considerable employment for rural communities in the interior forest areas. The scheme, thus, provides substantial employment opportunities.
Apart from direct employment opportunities, indirect benefits like arresting of erosion, enrichment of water regime, regeneration of grass and ground flora provide are useful to animals and communities in neighborhood.
Further
the eco development inputs in the project would reduce dependency of indigenous
stakeholder communities dwelling on the fringes of Tiger Reserve and ensure
their socio-economic welfare to elicit support for conservation.
Funds
Allocation/Expenditure:
The allocation for the Project during the Xth plan
period is Rs. 150 Crores.
211. INDIA ECO-DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
India Eco-development Project was conceived as a Pilot Project with the World Bank assistance to
conserve biodiversity through ecodevelopment. An Indicative Plan was drawn up
for the eight sites, which was financed by UNDP. This Plan was discussed by Pre
Appraisal Missions of the World Bank and on that basis the work of preparing
the detailed India Eco-Development Project was taken up.
2. The Seven sites were
Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal). Palamau Tiger Reserve (Jharkhand), Nagarhole
National Park (Karnataka), Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala), Pench Tiger Reserve
(Madhya Pradesh), Gir National Park (Gujarat), and Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
(Rajasthan). Nagarhole Tiger Reserve was, however, dropped later owing to
non accomplishment of benchmarks set by
the World Bank. Hence, at present, the project is in operation in the remaining
six sites.
3. World Bank declared the Project effective from
27.12.1996. However, the implementation of the project was approved by the
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in its meeting held on 14. 10.1997. Initially,
the project was for a period of five years, and it took off only in the last
quarter of 1997-98, the completion date being 31.12.2001 and closing date as
30-06-2003. Since then, based on the request of Ministry of Environment &
Forests and with the concurrence of Department of Economic Affair, the
completion and closing dates of the Project stand extended to 31.12.2003 and
30.06.2004 respectively. The CCEA has accorded approval to this extension.
4 . The objectives of the scheme are to
conserve biodiversity by addressing both (a) the impact of local people on the
protected areas and (b) the impact of the protected areas on the local people,
and envisages to improve the capacity of protected area management to
effectively conserve biodiversity and support collaboration between the State
and the local communities in and around ecologically valuable areas.
5.
The major
components of the Project are as under:
(i) Improved PA management:
to assist in the improvement of PA planning processes and building
capacity, protection and management of ecosystems and habitats within PAs and
to upgrade PA amenties for field staff. The major activities under this
component are survey and demarcation, construction of staff quarters,
patrolling camps, road improvement, wireless tower, fire towers. watch towers,
fencing, causeways, vehicle/boats/elephants etc., water source development,
eradication of weeds, organising workshops, study tours training courses,
assessments studies, providing equipments, facilitating use of information
technology, providing civil works, eco/habitat restoration, plantation,
desilting of tanks, restoration of cattle proof trenches, solar fencing and
construction of cattle proof walls.
(ii) Village Ecodevelopment: to assist in conducting participatory
microplanning and provision of implementation support, implementing reciprocal
commitments from villages and financing special programs for community
participation. The main activities under this component include training
courses, microplanning, study tours, fostering village ecodevelopment fund,
rehabilitation of degraded forests through JFM plantations, & procurement
of vehicles.
(iii) Education and awareness and impact
monitoring and research: to assist
in promotion of public support for conservation through environmental education
and awareness campaign, and impact monitoring and research;
(iv) Overall Project Management
6.The expenditure on the project is being met out of Government funds and
then claimed as reimbursement from the World Bank.
7. The
Mid Term Review of the project was conducted by the World Bank Mission in
April-May, 2000. Keeping in view the
progress of the project which was due for completion on 31-12-2001, the world
Bank Mission had reduced the targets of the project, and the details of
original and revised allocations are as
under:-
(Rs.
in crores)
|
|
|
Original
|
REVISED
|
|
|
|
|
SAR |
MTR |
After mtr |
|
i. |
Loan
from IDA |
119.10 |
81.63 |
79.29 |
|
ii. |
Grant
from GEF Trust |
86.02 |
69.69 |
62.32 |
|
iii.
|
Government
of India and Project States |
63.21 |
60.23 |
87.38 |
|
iv.
|
Project
Beneficiaries |
20.46 |
17.45 |
20.30 |
|
|
Total |
288.79 |
229.00 |
249.29 |
Since then, the cost has been revised to Rs.
249.29 crores (Loan from IDA Rs. 79.29
Crores, Grants from GEF Rs. 62.32 crores, GOI and Project States Rs. 87.38
crores and Beneficiaries Rs. 20.30 crores)
212. NATIONAL AFFORESTATION
& ECO-DEVELOPMENT BOARD
National Afforestation & Eco‑development Board has one programme costing Rs. 100 crores or more. The National Afforestation Programme has been launched during the year 2002-03. The objectives of the programme are as under:-
Short term objectives:‑
- Regeneration
and eco‑development of degraded forests and adjoining areas on a
watershed basis.
- Augmentation of the availability of
fuel wood, fodder and grasses from the regenerated areas.
- Securing people's participation in planning and
regeneration efforts to ensure sustainability and equitable distribution of
forest products from the regenerated lands, and to ppromote the partnership concept in the management and
administration of forests and common property resources.
- Promote agro-forestry and
development of Common Property Resources.
- Promotion of fuel saving devices to
encourage efficient use of fuel wood
and to reduce the drudgery of rural women involved in collection of
wood, as also to improve the environment.
- Conservation and improvement of
non-timber forest produce such as bamboo, cane and medicinal plants
-
Encourage production of
non-timber products such as wax, honey, fruits and nuts from the regenerated
areas.
-
Raising coastal
shelterbelts to mitigate the adverse impacts of cyclonic winds.
- Develop water resources through
plantation and water harvesting programme.
- Development and extension of improved technologies such as clonal propagation and use of root trainers for raising seedlings, mycorrhizal inoculation, etc.
- Rehabilitation of special problem
lands like saline/alkaline soils, ravines, desert areas, coastal areas, mined
areas, Himalayas, Aravallis and Western Ghats.
- Employment generation for the
disadvantaged sections of society, particularly women, scheduled
castes/scheduled tribes and landless rural labourers, inhabiting the forests
and adjoining areas.
Long‑term objectives:
- Protection, Conservation of natural
resources through active involvement of the people.
- Checking land degradation,
deforestation and loss of biodiversity.
- Ecological restoration and
environmental conservation and eco‑development,
- Evolving village level people’s organisation
which can manage the natural resources in and around villages in a sustainable
manner,
- Fulfilment of the broader objectives
of productivity, equity, and sustainability for the general good of the people.
- Improve quality of life and self-sustenance
aspect of people living in and around forest areas.
-
Capability endowment and
skill enhancement for improving employability of the rural people.
213. NATIONAL RIVER
CONSERVATION DIRECTORATE
1. National River Conservation Plan
NRCP scheme covers 31
stretches of polluted rivers in 157 towns in 18 States The cost of projects approved under NRCP is
Rs. 4688 crore.
2 Ganga Action Plan Phase(GAP) II
(i) The
cost of projects approved under GAP Phase II is Rs.2285.48 crore against which
an amount of Rs. 821.07 crore has been released to implementing agencies as on
31.10.2004.
(ii) The
current status of various components of GAP Phase II is as follows:
(a) Yamuna Action Plan (YAP)
(i) YAP presently covers pollution abatement
works in 21 towns. The approved cost of
YAP is Rs. 509.45 crore (including establishment) of which an expenditure of
Rs. 474.74 crore has been incurred by the State so far. Works under JBIC assisted package in
original 15 towns has already been completed. A treatment capacity of 741
million litres per day (mld) has been created.
Works in the additional 6 towns in Haryana, which are not covered under
the JBIC assistance, are in different stages of completion. Of the 13 schemes of
pollution abatement sanctioned, 5 schemes have been completed.
(ii) Because of savings in JBIC
assistance, additional pollution abatement works of short gestation period
amounting to Rs. 222.60 crore were approved in May, 2001. The break-up of the estimated cost is Rs.
22.28 crore for Haryana, Rs. 166.62 crore for Delhi and Rs. 29.65 crore for
U.P. In addition, an amount of Rs. 4.05
crore has been provided for fees payable to Indo-Japanese consultants
consortium. While in the case of
Delhi, the works primarily relate to low cost sanitation/community toilets in
slums, regularised and resettlement colonies in rural and urban villages, in
the case of Haryana and U.P., the projects include items such as additional
pumps, diesel generator sets, additional sludge drying beds etc. The expenditure incurred so far by State
Governments under this package is Rs.
200.98 crore by the State. All
the works have been completed under this package. The JBIC loan agreement has expired on 19.2.2003.
(iii) Together with this additional package
the total cost of Yamuna Action Plan stands at Rs. 732.05 crore. This includes cost of establishment.
(iv) In order to address further problem of
water pollution of river Yamuna, additional pollution abatement works in the
States of Delhi, Haryana and U.P. have been approved at a cost of Rs.624
crore.
v
Cost of works
under YAP-II to be shared between Govt.
of India and State Governments in the ratio of 85:15 i.e Rs.530 crore Central
Share and 94 crore States share.
v
Cost of works
to be executed in the three States comprises of :
(Rs. in crore)
|
Delhi |
387.17 |
|
U.P.(Nine Towns) |
124.13 |
|
Haryana (Eight
Towns) |
62.50 |
|
Miscellaneous (WQM, Capacity
building Consultancy etc. ) |
52.20 |
v
Main components
to be implemented under the project are :
|
Delhi |
STP (135 mld capacity new and 324 mld
capacity rehabilitation) Rehabilitation/replacement of trunk
sewers(30.82 kms.) |
|
U.P. |
STP (38 mld capacity new) Sewer line (73 kms.) Rising Main (12.70 kms) |
|
Haryana |
Sewer lines (73 kms) & improvement in
effiencies of existing STPs |
v
The project
completion period is 5 years i.e September, 2008.
v
Expenditure on
GOI share (Rs.530 crore) will be met out of the outlay as follows :
X Plan : Rs.255.00 crore
XI Plan : Rs.275.00 crore
v
The consultants
for the works have been appointed.
(b) Ganga
Action Plan (Main Stem)
Under this component
pollution abatement works have been taken up in 59 towns. Of these, 10 are
in Uttaranchal, 12 in U.P., 13 in Bihar,
1 in Jharkhand and 23 in West Bengal.
The total approved cost of works under this component is Rs.682.11 crore
against which works amounting to Rs.409.81 crore sanctioned and an amount of
Rs.174 crore has been released to the implementing agencies. The expenditure incurred by the implementing
agencies till 30.06.2004 is Rs.176.78 crore.
(c) Gomti Action Plan
The proposal for 2nd
phase of Gomti Action Plan at Lucknow has been approved by GOI in April 2003 for Rs.263.26 crore on 70:30 cost
sharing basis between the Central and the State Government. Administrative
Approval & Expenditure Sanction for the project has been issued with works
valued at Rs.263.04 crore. The works have been started.
(d) Damodar Action Plan
Pollution abatement works
have been sanctioned in 12 towns. Of
these, 8 are in Jharkhand and 4 in West Bengal. The total approved cost of works is Rs.22.41 crore out of which
the amount approved for Jharkhand is Rs.10.22 crore and for West Bengal is
Rs.12.19 crore. In Jharkhand, 4 scheme of Low Cost Sanitation have been
sanctioned at a cost of Rs.41.44 lakhs against which the expenditure incurred
is 33.81 lakhs and 3 schemes have been completed. In West Bengal 7 schemes have
been sanctioned for an amount of Rs.75.55 lakhs against which the expenditure
incurred is Rs.72.41 lakhs and 6 schemes has been completed so far.
5.1 The
activities under NLCP include the following:-
(i)
Prevention
of pollution from point sources by intercepting, diverting and treating the
pollution loads entering the lake.
(ii)
In
situ measures of lake cleaning such as Desilting, Deweeding, Bioremediation,
constructed wetland approach etc. depending upon the site conditions.
(iii)
Catchment
area treatment and lake beautification which may include bunding, fencing,
creation of facilities for public
recreation and entertainment(children park, boating etc.) and public area.
(iv)
Other
activities depend upon location specific conditions including the interface with human population.
A total outlay of Rs. 220 crore has been approved
for NLCP during the X Plan with an
annual outlay of Rs. 45 crore in the
current financial year.
The approved projects are as follows : -
S.No. Lake Approved Cost Date of Approval
Completed
1. 4 lakes of Bangalore namely, Rs. 12.32 crore 06/12/2002 Vengaiahkere
Vengaiahkere, Kamakshilpya, & Nagavara
and Jarganahalli
2. Mansagar(Rajasthan) Rs. 22.89 crore 05/09/2002
revised to Rs. 24.72 crore 23/12/2002
3. Rabindra Sarovar(West Bengal) Rs. 6.96 crore 03/09/2002
4. 9 lakes in Thane(Maharashtra) Rs. 2.53 crore 26/12/2002
5. Bellandur Lake(Karnataka) Rs. 5.542 crore
6. Kotekere Lake(Karnataka) Rs. 5.64 crore 23/01/2003
7. Powai Lake(Maharashtra) Rs. 6.62 crore 08/06/2001 Powai Lake
8. Ooty Lake(Tamil Nadu) Rs. 1.95 crore 27/06/2001
9. Kodaikanal(Tamil Nadu) Rs.
6.33 crore 21/12/2001
10. 4 Lakes of Nainital
District Rs. 16.85crore 12/06/2003
11. Nainital Lake
(Uttranchal ) Rs 47.97 crore 13/08/2003
12. Bhishma(Karnataka) Rs. 2.50 crore 18/09/2003
13. Lal Baug(Karnataka) Rs 1.66 crore 17/12/2003
14. Mirik Lake (Kolkota) Rs.
2.8048 20/08/2004
214. TAJ
PROTECTION MISSION
The
EFC Memo giving details of the scheme on Taj Protection Mission was approved in
EFC
meeting held on
26.10.1998 and on 23.2.1999. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved
the
following 10
schemes of Rs.222.21 crores:-
1) Improvement in
Electric Supply at Agra Part.II
2) Improvement in
Electric Supply in and around the rural areas of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.
3) Water Supply
(Agra)
4) Water Supply
(Mathura-Vrindavan)
5) Gokul Barrage
6) Solid Waste
Management in Agra City
7) Storm Water
Drainage System (Agra)
8) Construction of
one part of Agra Bye-pass
9) Widening of Agra
Bye-pass
10) Improvement of Master Plan of roads of Agra
city.
215. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CAPACITY
BUILDING TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE PROJECT (WORLD BANK AIDED)