Who said money won’t grow on trees? Government of Maharashtra will ensure that your money will grow on trees so long as you plant them.
According to The Time of India, citizens planting and nurturing trees may get paid by the state government.
The state government has set up an expert committee to study the concept of ‘tree credits’.
The panel has submitted its report to the state government recently and the government is likely to bring in a Bill for this in the winter session of legislature in December.
Image courtesy: plantabillion.org
Reportedly the committee has recommended the government to conduct a pilot project in a few districts of Marathwada as the concept is new and would take some time to be implemented smoothly.
On the back drop of severe arid conditions in the state which led to drought, the state now wants to encourage people to plant more trees so as to increase the forest cover in the state.
Image courtesy: Dailymail
As per the recommendations forwarded to the government by the panel, people will be able to sell the tree credits to the to government at rates that are to yet to be fixed. Price of the tree credits will be fixed after taking expenses like cost of sapling, labor and maintenance into account.
In the project, citizens of the state are expected to nurture trees for at least a period of one year in order to get credits.
Credits will be awarded after considering the family and age of the trees that are planted. The project has recommended sturdy trees like teak, neem, babool and sandalwood which can absorb more carbon dioxide.
It is also learned that the tree credits will double after 10 years, giving citizens a huge monetary benefit.
Initially, the committee has suggested capping the tree credits to only 200 trees per hectare to prevent any misuse of the scheme. The committee has fixed the credits to be paid in the first year for planting 200 trees in one hectare. The credits will be different for different species of trees.
For instance, Rs 3,500 has been proposed to be paid for 200 sandalwood trees after the first year.
“We have also proposed setting up of a committee under the chief secretary to notify the Act for districts they select and the rate to be paid to the farmers can be revised by them. Everything will be online and a software will be built to apply for tree credits,” said a member on the expert committee was quoted by The Times of India.
“Nowhere in the world such a concept exists. We are also trying to work out the legal framework before notifying the Act,” Sudhir Mungantiwar, minister of the forests was quoted saying the TOI.
