Meghalaya to spend Rs 4501 crores for carrying out climate resilient growth agendas
Announcing a budgetary allocation of Rs. 4501 crores for carrying out climate resilient growth agenda, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed that the State’s initiatives in climate action in the sectors of Agriculture, Water Conservation, Renewable Energy and Afforestation are being recognised globally.
This was told by Sangma during the placing of the Meghalaya State Budget on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister said that more than 50% of the Rs 7,300 crore of investments in externally aided projects in Meghalaya are focussed on natural resources management. He also that he is allocating an amount of Rs. 246 crores for 2024-25 for the implantation of the various sustainability focussed externally aided projects.
Sangma said that new project for protection of vulnerable catchment areas in Meghalaya, MegARISE, has recently been launched where Rs. 353 crore project focuses on safeguarding the critical Umiew catchment in East Khasi Hills and the essential Ganol catchment in West Garo Hills are being implemented. These catchment areas serve as lifelines for Shillong and Tura respectively.
The Chief Minister said “I am most proud of is the Green Meghalaya- the country’s largest Payment for Ecosystem services program. In less than two years of its launch, the program is a resounding success. An amount of Rs 44 crore has been released to 3,403 individual and community beneficiaries to bring over 54,000 hectares of forests under conservation.”
From the year 2024-25, the Green Meghalaya program will be expanded to target conservation of 1 lakh hectares of forest area, Sangma informed the programme will entail an annual expenditure of Rs 100 crore over the next five years and will ensure the protection of these forests for the next 30 years.
He further said a second ambitious plan in this area is to connect Meghalaya’s farmers to international carbon markets which pay for carbon sequestered in new plantations through agroforestry. He also said the process of connecting the farmers to international networks is initiated. It is expected that an additional 1 lakh hectares of agroforestry areas can be conserved through this initiative.
The Chief Minister said the Climate Adaptive Community Based Water Harvesting Project is being implemented at a total cost of Rs 515 crore while in the next financial year, 382 reservoirs with a total pondage area of 323 hectares and an impounding capacity of 9 million cubic meters will be constructed.
Sangma assured that the government is taking steps to retain the fine balance between protecting livelihoods and promoting sustainability while acknowledging that the year financial year 2024-25 will see the start of scientific mining of coal.
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