EU approves Rs 230 crore for Haryana forestry project

Chandigarh, Apr 6 (UNI) Haryana Minister of State for Forests and Tourism Kiran Choudhry said today that the European Union had approved the Haryana Community Forestry work plan budget for the financial year 2007-2008.

Ms Choudhry said the new project would involve an expenditure of Rs 230 crores and would cover 500 villages of 11 districts of Haryana. The state had exceeded the previous project plantation target of 27,380 hectares by 20 per cent, she said.

She said that at a high powered meeting held recently in New Delhi, the Government of Haryana apprised the European Union officials of the progress made under the project so far.

They also discussed the other work plans for the year 2007-08 and the newly submitted ''Resource Management and Livelihood Project'' for financing.

She said that the plantation in general have shown high survival rate ranging from more than 70 per cent in case of Sand Dune fixation to 89 per cent in case of Woodlots and Tree Groves.

The Minister said that the women's empowerment through for formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) was also discussed and generated a lot of interest. She said nearly 2300 women involved in the various Income Generation Activities(IGAs) supported by the project have earned a net income of over Rs.2.5 crores.

UNI