The draft of the ambitious green mission to increase the forest cover and enhance eco-system services will be finalised by month-end, Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh said today.
The draft document for the mission will be finalised by this month-end and then will be submitted to the Prime Minister," he told the NGOs at the sixth public consultation organised about the plan at Indian Forest Management Institute here.
National Mission for a Green India" aims at increasing the forest cover by 10 million hectares by 2020 and enhance eco-system services at an estimated cost of Rs 44,000 crore.
The last public consultation on the draft will take place in Mysore on Monday, Ramesh said.
The pilot project on the mission is likely to take off in the next couple of months and will go on for around two years, the Minister said.
He said de-greening can't be stopped completely in the country but there was room to put a check on it.
Development is essential and work of the government nowadays is measured by people in growth terms, Ramesh said.Power generation, highways construction and other development works are bound to take place, he said.
Ramesh admitted development work had inflicted serious damage to the environment and forests in some states.