Bhubaneswar: The 24th State Level Steering Committee meeting of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Odisha, was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anu Garg at Lok Seva Bhawan here.
The meeting reviewed the progress of the Annual Plan of Operation (APO) for 2025-26 and discussed the proposed APO for the financial year 2026-27.
Chief Executive Officer of CAMPA, Odisha, G. Rajesh informed the committee about the action taken on the decisions of the 23rd State Level Executive Committee meeting held in November 2025.
It was informed that for the APO of 2025-26, the State Executive Committee had approved ₹1201.68 crore, while the National Authority sanctioned ₹1136.22 crore. Of the sanctioned amount, around 85 per cent has already been utilised for various afforestation and conservation activities, while the remaining works are currently in progress.
The meeting also discussed and approved a proposal worth ₹1022.03 crore for the implementation of the APO for 2026-27. The proposal has been recommended to the National Authority, CAMPA, for final sanction.
The proposed plan includes compensatory afforestation activities over an area of 5,450.63 hectares.
Under the proposed APO for 2026-27, the funds will be utilised for several activities including supplementary afforestation in specific categories, conservation of natural habitats of wild animals and birds, implementation of regional wildlife plans, new tree plantations, and maintenance and protection of previously planted saplings.
Other proposed initiatives include roadside tree plantation programmes, digitisation of demarcated boundaries of notified forest and revenue forest areas, enhancement of soil moisture in forest lands, biodiversity and biological resource management, and wildlife management.
The plan also emphasises capacity-building training for forest personnel using modern scientific methods, development of infrastructure for wildlife management, monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as awareness and outreach programmes related to wildlife protection and forest security.
Among those present at the meeting were Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretaries and Commissioners-cum-Secretaries of Finance, Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, and the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Dr K. Murugesan and other senior officials who are members of the committee also attended the meeting.
