SHILLONG, March 14: Amid concerns over the livelihood of families residing along the different catchment areas in the state, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said the state government has come up with a programme for eco-system service to reach out to such families and provide financial assistance, too.
“We are aware that these families are dependent on the forest produce from the catchment areas. We cannot just take away their livelihood from them by asking these families to stop all their activities within the catchments areas. We intend to motivate the families residing in few of the identified catchment areas to act as volunteers,” Conrad Sangma told the Assembly while participating in a discussion during the ongoing budget session on Monday.
According to the CM, these families will be provided with the financial assistance even as the government will help create alternative livelihood for them.
“This is one way we can reduce the destruction of the forest areas. This is the only way to ensure that we are able to protect the environment and support the people in the livelihood programme,” Sangma said.
The CM informed the House that the government has earmarked Rs 350 crore for protection of the catchment areas.
He added that an amount of Rs 720 crore has been earmarked for the Environment Protection Reservoir Programme and another Rs 500 crore for the National Resources Management Programme.
