The annual work plan for the Munnar Mountain Landscape project will soon be submitted for approval.
A decision in this regard was taken at a review meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
The Chief Minister directed the forest officials to submit the annual work plan in 10 days. He suggested steps for ensuring that the project funds were not lost. Mr. Vijayan directed the Chief Secretary to intervene to ensure that the project was implemented on time.
The project had been hanging fire for quite some time as confusion prevailed over the mode through which the funds had to be received. The UNDP-aided project will get an assistance of ₹35 crore.
The Haritha Kerala Mission, the green arm of the State government, would double up as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project. With the decision to have the mission as the SPV, the confusion over routing of funds had been cleared, said B. N. Anjankumar, the forest official holding charge of the project.
The department will submit the work plan for the current fiscal and next year to the national-level steering committee. Once approved, the projects would be implemented, he said.
During the previous financial year, several activities were implemented in the landscape as part of the project, Mr. Anjankumar said.
The project, which began in 2014 with the twin objective of developing “effective multiple use management framework for conserving biodiversity in the mountain landscape of the Western Ghats” and livelihood support for the local populations, was stalled after opposition from the various quarters.
Three years later, the project was revived after addressing the concerns raised by the local residents. Later, the confusion over the routing of the funds hampered the progress.
