The government will develop the rehabilitation centre for domesticated elephants at Kottur in Thiruvananthapuram to world-class standards.
Prompted to formulate a project in view of widespread criticism regarding handling of elephants, the government will utilise ₹105 crore, obtained from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), for the purpose.
An amount of ₹55 crore has been earmarked for protecting natural forests.
The allocation will be utilised for a proper survey of the forest boundaries and its protection.
Wetlands
Emphasis will be on protecting wetlands and forest water sources in areas of highest rainfall. Moreover, ₹72 crore will be allocated as the State’s share towards the National Mission for a Green India, undertaken by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for biodiversity protection and for management of protected parks.
In a bid to deal with the increasing incidents of man-animal conflicts in the State, ₹13 crore has been earmarked to protect agriculture and human habitations and for other measures.
Besides, an allocation of ₹100 crore has been made as KIIFB investment for constructing protection fences as announced in the previous budget.
Allocation
The budget provides for an allocation of ₹25 crore for maintenance of forest plantations and for undertaking infrastructure development.
While ₹9 crore has been set aside for ecotourism projects, ₹14 crore has been earmarked for social forestry activities.
There is also an allocation of ₹15 crore for the Puthur Zoological Park.
