World Bank to fund Jharkhand forest mgmt schemes

 The Bank will release Rs 2.5 crore shortly to start ground work like field survey to identify issues affecting the forest dwellers.

 Officials from the World Bank recently met senior officials of the forest department in Jharkhand and discussed details of the programme in different forest areas.

 Forest department sources said that Jharkhand was the second state after Andhra Pradesh where the World Bank has decided to invest funds in forest management programmes.

 The programme envisaged community driven development approach in which the community will be empowered to take decisions for protecting and developing forests. Involvement of local populations would be crucial.