India planted 1.78 lakh hectares under CAMPA in 2019-2023; gaps in fund use: Report

New Delhi: India raised 1,78,261 hectares of compensatory afforestation against a target of 2,09,297 hectares between 2019-20 and 2023-24, achieving 85 per cent of the planned area, the Supreme Court-mandated Central Empowered Committee has said in a report.

The report filed earlier this month revealed that utilisation of funds under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) varies sharply across states.

According to the report, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh recorded full achievement of their targets.

Madhya Pradesh planted 21,746.82 hectares, fully achieving its target of 21,107.68 hectares. Karnataka also met nearly its entire target, covering 2,761.26 hectares against 2,775.12 hectares. Arunachal Pradesh planted 20,719.46 hectares against 21,478.03 hectares, achieving 96.6 per cent.

Uttar Pradesh reported 96.4 per cent achievement, planting 5,877.16 hectares against 6,096.7 hectares. Assam covered 1,149.64 hectares against 1,191.82 hectares, achieving 93.8 per cent.

Sikkim planted 609.52 hectares, achieving 92.3 per cent, while Punjab achieved 4,019.72 hectares against 4,471.94 hectares, about 89.9 per cent.

In contrast, Meghalaya had one of the lowest coverage, achieving only 114.56 hectares against a target of 514.76 hectares or 22.3 per cent.

Manipur planted 666.94 hectares against 1,759.84 hectares, achieving 37.9 per cent. Kerala covered 171.80 hectares against 433.06 hectares, achieving 39.7 per cent.

West Bengal achieved only 748.25 hectares against 1,911.74 hectares, about 39.2 per cent. Tamil Nadu planted 84.76 hectares against 262.39 hectares, achieving 32.3 per cent. Andhra Pradesh reported 3,471.88 hectares against 8,663.46 hectares, covering only 40.1 per cent.

The report also reviewed the use of CAMPA funds during this period.

National CAMPA approved Rs 38,516 crore for state annual plans between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

States released Rs 29,311 crore to their forest departments, of which Rs 26,001 crore was utilised. This means only 67.5 per cent of the approved outlay was spent.

Utilisation varied widely, with Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh utilising 100 per cent, 100 per cent and 97.8 per cent of the funds released to them, respectively.

Mizoram reported utilisation above 91 per cent, Sikkim 97.7 per cent, Karnataka 96.6 per cent and Odisha 87.9 per cent. Chhattisgarh recorded 95 per cent utilisation of the funds released, and Gujarat spent more than it released, utilising 116 per cent due to carryover balances.

Several states lagged behind. Tamil Nadu used only 67.9 per cent of the funds released, while Jammu and Kashmir spent 62.5 per cent. Haryana also underperformed, using 57.4 per cent.

West Bengal spent 81.1 per cent and Delhi just 26.9 per cent, the lowest among all states.

Telangana reported 60.4 per cent utilisation, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands spent 53.1 per cent of the released funds.

The CEC said that "delays in submission of annual plans by states, late release of funds, and the lack of dedicated CAMPA offices affect seasonal forestry operations".

Monitoring of survival rates remains weak, and multiple layers in the fund release process contribute to underutilisation, it said.

Despite these shortcomings, it said progress under the statutory framework has been "significant" given initial difficulties, including disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With thousands of hectares of natural forests lost each year to development projects, the report warns that gaps in plantation survival and underutilisation of funds undermine the very purpose of the CAMPA mechanism.

The compensatory afforestation regime originated from a series of orders in the landmark TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India case of 1995.

In these orders, the Supreme Court mandated that when forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes, user agencies must provide funds to compensate for the loss through afforestation on non-forest land or degraded forest land.

To formalise and regulate the management of these funds, Parliament enacted the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016. The Act established the National and State CAMPA to manage the money collected from user agencies. The CAF Rules, 2018, provided the framework for how these funds should be used.

The Act and Rules specify that the money transferred to states and union territories can only be used for afforestation, regeneration of degraded forests, wildlife protection and other activities aimed at ecological restoration.