As part of its commitment to create green cover in activity areas, the state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) today signed a MoU with the forest and environment department for undertaking plantation of at least 10 lakh seedlings during 2015-16.
The saplings will be planted in OMC's active mining leases located in the districts of Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Kalahandi and Jajpur.
"The objective is to restore ecological balance, cover the open space with greenery and improve the degraded forest so that the people around mining areas can earn their livilihood from the minor forest produced," steel and mines minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said.
The State mining PSU will spend Rs 1.38 crore for plantation of 10 lakh trees. Of the Rs 1.38 crore, Rs 70 lakh would be paid by OMC to forest and environment department this month and rest of the amount would be paid by September, according to the agreement in the MoU.
OMC will also bear the maintenance cost for three years amounting to Rs 2.74 crore. In additional OMC will pay Rs 3 crore this year to forest and environment department as material component cost of plantation under MGNREGA. The programme includes plantation of 1.44 lakh seedlings in the Medicinal Plant Park in the district of Dhenkanal, the agreement said.
Steel and Mines Minister Mallick said he was hopeful that other mining companies operating in the state would come forward to encourage plantation.
State's forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Aruk thanked OMC for taking part in the plantation drive launched by the state government. He said the department is planning to plant 12.50 crore seedling under various programmes.
