The Union government proposes to develop two biosphere reserves in Andhra Pradesh. They are aimed at protecting the ecology of the Seshachalam forest range in the Chittoor-Kadapa region and the Chintapalli forest range in Visakhapatnam district.
“Today most of the biosphere reserves are in the Western Ghats. This is the first time that such reserves are proposed in the Eastern Ghats,” minister of state for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, told mediapersons here on Saturday.
Ramesh, who met the state chief minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, earlier in the day, said that a special secretary from his ministry would arrive here on June 16 to hold detailed discussion with the state government officials on the proposed projects.
According to Ramesh, a suggestion has also been made to Reddy to convert the state Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute into a national environmental training institute so that it can be funded fully by the Centre. The chief minister agreed to examine the proposals.
The minister, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from AP, said environmental clearance would be accorded by next Tuesday to the power project undertaken by the Generation Corporation of AP at the Srisailam dam. The clearance pertained to diversion of seven hectares of forest land in the downstream of the dam.
Similarly, as requested by the chief minister, he would ensure that there was no undue delay in giving environmental clearances to various irrigation projects taken up in the. “The existing rules and the statutory process would strictly followed while giving clearances,” he added.
Stating that the existing forest cover in the state was only 16 per cent of the geographical area as against 23 per cent in records, Ramesh emphasised the need for increasing the forest cover to 23 per cent and the tree cover from the prevailing 3 per cent to 10 per cent over the next 10 years.
More From This Section
He said the state had deposited Rs 900 crore with the Centre for compensatory afforestation in lieu of the diversion of forest land for different projects. The chief minister requested him to see that this amount was utilised quickly to increase the green cover.
Ramesh reiterated that genetically modified (GM) crops and GM foods should be viewed differently. For instance, he was sympathetic to BT cotton but not to BT brinjal. He was hopeful that a national biotechnology regulatory authority would be established for the scientific assessment of the GM products.
On the environmental front, he said the Centre would come out with a legislation soon to set up an independent Environmental Protection Authority which would replace the existing Central Pollution Control Board.