GUWAHATI: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said that the state capital Itanagar has been selected for implementation of the ‘Nagar Van’ or Urban Forest scheme of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (EFCC).
Following a meeting of the Union Ministry chaired by EFCC Minister, Prakash Javadekar through video conferencing this morning, Khandu informed that as there were only two urban cities in the state – Itanagar and Pasighat – and Itanagar has been selected for implementation of the scheme this year. He said the department of Environment and Forest has already earmarked the land measuring about 20 hectares for creation of an ‘Urban Forest’.
Khandu, who is also the minister in-charge of Environment & Forest, informed Javadekar that the Union Ministry’s ‘Nagar Van’ scheme would be dovetailed with the Smart City project so that the objective of the scheme is achieved in toto.
The ‘Nagar Van’ is a scheme being launched by the Union EFCC Ministry that envisages to create forests in 200 urban cities across the country on public-private-partnership basis. The Ministry would offer an initial grant of Rs 2 crores for fencing, maintenance and administrative costs of the earmarked land to be developed.
