The forest cover in West Bengal has increased by 55 square kilometre in the last two years, the state government told the Assembly on Monday.
In the budget statement tabled in the assembly, the government said there has been a qualitative improvement in the forest cover as 'very dense forest' increased by 25 sq km and 'open forest' by 17 sq km.
The medium dense forest cover went up by 13 sq km during the period, the statement said, quoting Biennial 'India State of Forest Report 2019.'
Finance Minister Amit Mitra said his department proposed to allocate Rs 415 crore to the Forest department for next fiscal years for afforestation drive and other activities to raise the green cover.
In an obvious reference to wild animals straying into human habitations in north Bengal, the government said a new alternative rhino habitat has been set up at Patlakhawa in Coochbehar district outside the usual habitat in Jaldapara National Park and Gorumara National Park recently.
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