PANAJI
Goa’s proposed CAMPA spending on forest management and allied activities has faced significant cuts from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), with the authority slashing the 2026-27 outlay by almost 27 per cent.
According to the minutes of the 40th meeting of the National CAMPA Executive Committee held on August 11, Goa had proposed a total outlay of Rs 43.77 crore under its Annual Plan of Operation (APO) for 2026-27 as against which the authority approved Rs 37.19 crore. However, the sanctioned amount is on a higher side compared to the last year’s allocation of Rs 14.96 crore and 13.74 crore in 2024-25.
While the entire Rs 11.84 crore proposed for undertaking 80 ha of compensatory afforestation was approved, the National CAMPA substantially pruned several other forest and wildlife-related components. The sharpest reduction came under Rule 5(3) of the CAF Rules, 2018, where State had sought Rs 4.86 crore, but the Authority approved only Rs 2.44 crore, a cut of almost 50 per cent. The category covers activities including modern nurseries, biodiversity conservation, communication and information technology equipment, inspection paths and forest roads, fire lines, watchtowers and check posts, as well as monitoring and awareness programmes. The State had sought Rs 33.60 lakh for establishment, upgradation and maintenance of modern nurseries, but only Rs 15.66 lakh was approved. Its Rs 50 lakh proposal for promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity was rejected completely.
Similarly, against a demand of Rs 1.86 crore for communication and information technology equipment, only Rs 38.60 lakh was cleared.
The proposal for construction, upgradation and maintenance of inspection paths, forest roads, fire lines, watchtowers and check posts was also reduced from Rs 41.25 lakh to Rs 14.50 lakh. Under Rule 5(2), Goa had proposed Rs 19.64 crore for activities including assisted natural regeneration, artificial regeneration, protection of plantations and forests, forest-fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation, wildlife habitat improvement, animal rescue facilities and biodiversity management. The National CAMPA approved Rs 15.47 crore, resulting in a cut of more than Rs 4.17 crore. Among these, the State’s proposal for protection of plantations and forests was reduced from Rs 4.67 crore to Rs 3.90 crore, while forest-fire prevention and control operations were cut from Rs 2.85 crore to Rs 2.11 crore. The allocation for soil and moisture conservation was reduced from Rs 2.16 crore to Rs 1.75 crore, and the proposal for improvement of wildlife habitat was cut from Rs 3.54 crore to Rs 2.13 crore. The proposal for management of biological diversity and biological resources suffered an even sharper reduction, from Rs 1.29 crore to Rs 44.81 lakh.
