Afforestation Push in Jammu Kashmir: Rs 36.72 Cr Under Green India Mission | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: The Union Government is implementing multiple afforestation and wildlife conservation schemes in Jammu and Kashmir, with over Rs 36 crore released under the Green India Mission and employment generation crossing 1.5 lakh person-days, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha.

In a written reply to a question by Gulam Ali, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh said key centrally sponsored schemes being implemented in the Union Territory include the Green India Mission (GIM), Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) and the Climate Change Action Programme (CCAP). The National Afforestation Programme has been merged with GIM, while Project Tiger is not being implemented in Jammu Kashmir.

Under the Green India Mission, the Centre has released Rs 36.72 crore to Jammu and Kashmir over the past five years, of which Rs 33.50 crore has been utilised. The scheme focuses on increasing forest and tree cover, restoring degraded landscapes, enhancing biodiversity and supporting livelihoods through afforestation and assisted natural regeneration.

Similarly, under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme, Rs 7.53 crore has been released, with an expenditure of Rs 5.67 crore incurred on activities such as habitat improvement, strengthening protected areas, mitigation of human-wildlife conflict and infrastructure development.

For climate action planning, Rs 12 lakh has been released under the Climate Change Action Programme, out of which Rs 9.78 lakh has been utilised for preparing and coordinating the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), which serves as a framework for mitigation and adaptation efforts across sectors.

The government said implementation of these schemes has generated employment through plantation work, nursery raising, soil and water conservation and protection measures. Under GIM alone, around 1.50 lakh person-days of employment have been created, benefiting 1,158 individuals.

On the ground, afforestation works such as advance work, plantation creation and maintenance have been carried out across multiple districts in both Jammu and Kashmir regions, while wildlife-related interventions under IDWH include habitat improvement, boundary protection, conflict mitigation and strengthening of monitoring infrastructure.

The schemes are being implemented primarily through the Forest Department and the Department of Wildlife Protection. Under GIM, activities are being executed with the support of over 200 Village Forest Committees and Panchayat-level plantation bodies across 26 forest divisions, while IDWH is being implemented across eight wildlife divisions.

The government said the programmes are being monitored under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with a focus on ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation and community participation in forest management.