Delhi behind afforestation spending, but fares well in greening: Report

Delhi has spent only ₹25 crore of its ₹116.78 crore CAMPA funds from 2019-24, raising concerns over low utilization and potential misuse.

Delhi has failed to utilise a significant chunk of its Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds, spending just over ₹25 crore out of ₹116.78 crore allocated between 2019-20 and 2023-24, an analysis carried out by the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) found.

Delhi behind afforestation spending, but fares well in greening: Report

In a report dated July 11, CEC analysed the utilisation of the Central CAMPA funds allocated to each state by the National CAMPA – an apex body which collects a corpus from projects where forest land was diverted for non-forestry activities. The funds are released to states with fixed targets for agroforestry in non-forest land to compensate for felled forests. The Supreme Court has questioned poor utilisation and hinted at misuse of CAMPA funds.

The report said that while Delhi has fared well in terms of greening through afforestation, fund utilisation remains low. “Total financial outlay approved by the National Authority for the Delhi CAMPA from FY. 2019-20 to 2023-24 is Rs. 116.78 crore. The Delhi Administration has released Rs. 93.06 crore, which is 79.69% of the approved outlay to the Delhi CAMPA. The Delhi Authority has utilised 26.90% of the released funds…” said the report, stating for the financial year 2024-25, ₹34.55 crore was allocated to Delhi.

CEC’s analysis also showed while most states fared well in terms of overall greening through compensatory afforestation, fund utilisation has been a challenge for some states and UTs. This included a 57% utilisation rate in Haryana, 53% in Andaman and 61% in Assam. In comparison, utilisation was 100% in Andhra Pradesh, 97.7% in Arunachal Pradesh, 97.45% in Meghalaya, 96.5% in Karnataka, and 95.6% in Tripura.

It said annual accounts for the Delhi CAMPA since 2018-19 were under preparation, and a C&AG audit will be conducted once these documents are ready. “The annual statements have not been provided by the Delhi Authority…” the report added.

In terms of afforestation targets, CEC said the National CAMPA required 190.91 hectares to be covered, with Delhi having carried out afforestation across 179.96 hectares. “The Physical compensatory afforestation target approved by the National authority for FY 2024-25 is 41.27 hectares,” the report said.

To assess the survival rate, an audit last took place in 2020-21, with 91% of the saplings surviving.

“FRI, Dehradun has successfully carried out Third Party Monitoring of CAMPA plantations in 2020-21. FRI has submitted a proposal for conducting Third Party Monitoring of CAMPA plantations from 2021-22 to 2023-25 vide letter dated 23.10.2024.” the report said.

The Delhi state CAMPA authority was established on October 5, 2009. However, a state public fund for the body was established only on July 2, 2021. The report further said that while the governing body for the Delhi authority had failed to hold a single meeting between 2018-19 and 2024-25, its steering committee had held six meetings, and its executive committee had held seven meetings.

“The Delhi Authority does not have a separate office or team to manage affairs of the Delhi CAMPA,” it added.

CR Babu, part of the steering committee and executive member committee of the Delhi CAMPA, said that even with funds released, spending requires administrative approvals, which can take time. “The challenges include identification of land for afforestation and administrative delays. The gap between meetings can sometimes be a lot, and the approvals for fund utilisation are submitted to the government only after such meetings. Sometimes approvals happen in one financial year, with funds being released in the next financial year,” he said.