Supreme Court Seeks Response on Alleged Misuse of CAMPA Funds in Uttarakhand

Supreme Court Seeks Response on Alleged Misuse of CAMPA Funds in Uttarakhand

The Supreme Court has asked the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to respond to allegations of misuse of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds by the Forest Department, based on a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

About Compensatory Afforestation

Compensatory afforestation ensures that when forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes—such as industrial or infrastructure development—it is mandatorily replaced with afforestation efforts on an equivalent area of land.

This process involves identifying non-forest or degraded forest land, providing and utilizing the necessary funds, and implementing a monitoring mechanism.

Statutory Provisions

• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980: This law mandates that when forest land is diverted for non-forestry purposes, equivalent non-forest land must be allocated for compensatory afforestation, along with the imposition of funds.

• Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016:

• This Act establishes provisions for managing and utilizing the national and state compensatory afforestation funds.
• These funds are non-lapsable, interest-bearing, and the National Fund is maintained in the Public Account of India.
• It also provides for the formation of National CAMPA and State CAMPAs to oversee the management and use of these funds.
• The compensatory levies are distributed between the National and State Funds in a 10:90 ratio.

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