Cabinet nod to Rs 7,266 cr Bundelkhand package

Under the plan,the government is targeting development of seven lakh hectares of land in Uttar Pradesh and four lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh with watershed development measures.

“Additional 60,000 hectares of forest areas in UP and two lakh hectares of forest areas in MP will be taken up for integrated conservation and management of rainfall,soil,and biomass in the natural sequence of watershed treatment from ridge to valley,” Soni said adding that 20,000 new wells in each state and 30,000 farm ponds will be constructed to store rainwater for providing irrigation at critical stages.

“To raise and diversify farmers’ income extension activities on agriculture technology will be intensively promoted to improve the crop productivity in the region along with animal husbandry and arid horticulture. Irrigation facilities,marketing infrastructure and agricultural risk management will be important areas of focus,” the minister said.

With the activities proposed to be implemented under the package estimated to cost Rs 7,266 crore over a three-year period,the government on Thursday said that a part of the cost of the package will be met by converging resources from ongoing central programmes and schemes.

To meet the gaps in availability of financial resources and provide a thrust to the drought mitigation package an additional plan central assistance to the tune of Rs 3,450 crore will be provided to the two State Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh over a period of three years commencing from 2009-10.