New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the very concept of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund was for restoring green cover which was lost on account of deforestation and not for other purposes.
A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai observed it has been brought to its notice that several states have not utilised the CAMPA fund, which was created for compensatory afforestation and allied activities, to the full capacity.
“The very concept of CAMPA fund is for utilisation and restoration of green cover which was lost on account of deforestation for carrying out various development activities,” said the bench, also comprising Justices P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan.
“The CAMPA fund is not supposed to be utilised for other purposes,” the bench observed.
The apex court on August 7 informed that in most of the states and Union Territories, the utilisation of CAMPA fund has been less than 50 per cent for the period ranging from 2018 to 2024.
The top court had then directed the chief secretaries/administrators of all the states and UTs to file affidavits on several points, including the amount spent on afforestation and allied activities and the reasons why the balance CAMPA fund was not utilised.
During the hearing on Wednesday, senior advocate K Parameshwar, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, told the bench that pursuant to the August 7 order, several states have filed their affidavits.
The bench noted the amicus has stated that perusal of the affidavits would reveal that in most of the states, the CAMPA funds were not utilised to the full capacity.
The apex court was also informed that there is a chief executive officer of CAMPA in every state.
The bench said it would be appropriate that the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) circulate a questionnaire to these officers asking them to submit information, including on the utilisation of CAMPA fund.
While posting the matter for hearing in December, the bench said the committee shall collate all the information received and submit its report before the court.
While hearing the matter on August 7, the apex court had said, “We find no justification in the state governments/Union Territories not using the said fund for the purpose of afforestation and allied activities”.
