Govt to make polluters pay green cess

Once implemented,green cess will fund Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s ambitious ‘Greening Punjab’ project,launched by him with much fanfare in July from Fazilka — the home district of Forest Minister Surjit Jyani. The nearly Rs 2,500-crore project that envisages increasing Punjab’s forest cover — from the current seven per cent to 15 per cent in eight years — by planting 40 crore plants stands derailed barely a month later as the debt-ridden departments,boards,corporations and urban development bodies have failed to contribute to the dedicated corpus fund created for the purpose.

Grappling with pending payments,the forest department,in a meeting held with Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh on Monday,has expressed its inability to continue the project with its own resources. It has cited huge cost involved in buying plants,maintaining plantations and incidental expenses on hiring staff and daily wagers. According to the department’s estimates,the project will require nearly Rs 300 to Rs 350 crore each year.

One plantation season is already over and with no budgetory support and no money flowing into the Greening Punjab fund,the CM has consented to impose green cess to bail out his ambitious project. “The proposal has received the in-principal approval of the chief minister. He is very concerned about Punjab’s shrinking forest cover and is spearheading the Greening Punjab project. Though the final details are yet to be decided,the department has proposed that all polluters such as vehicles,mega projects,including industry,housing and infrastructure projects could be brought under its ambit,” said Jyani.

Earlier,green cess had been mooted by a Planning Commission working group headed by Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan on vehicles to tackle the problem of pollution and traffic congestion. Gujarat is the first state to levy green cess on every unit of electricity produced by power firms using non-renewable sources.

Through green cess,Punjab intends to undertake a massive plantation drive on lands owned by government departments,institutions,panchayats,clubs,focal points,markets,cremation grounds,besides land in the vicinity of police lines,stations and jails,educational and medical institutions including hospitals,dispensaries and healthcare centres.