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Nishank gives nod to set up Eco-Tourism Corporation

Dehra Dun, Aug 10 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has given his nod for establishing Eco-Tourism Corporation in the state.Chairing a high-level meeting of secretaries last night, he said the new body would be a joint venture of the tourism and forest department, an official statement said today.He also asked the both departments to come up with a systematic and well planned proposal for the same.During the meeting, he also directed the forest development corporation to put up boundaries outside jungles for avoiding conflict between humans and wild animals.In this regard, he also directed the officials to construct toilets in forest-villages for ensuring safety of the people.The Chief Minister called for keeping the interests of the local youths protected before drafting any policy for river rafting and beach camping. He was informed that the forest department has set a target of generating an additional income of about Rs 150 crore through eco-tourism, river rafting and beach camping this year.Nishank also gave his approval in principle for the proposal of the irrigation department regarding levying user charges on hydro-power projects.Principal Secretary (Irrigation) P C Sharma suggested that water user charges can be levied on the hydro-power projects as was being done in Jammu and Kashmir.He added that in J&K, a charge of 25 paise per cubic metre was being levied as water use charges on electricity generation by the hydro electricity projects. As per a survey, nearly 70,000 million cubic metre water in Uttarakhand falls under this category and by charging at the rate of 25 paise, an income of Rs 1700 crore can be generated for the state. Referring to the mining, Nishank said Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam and Forest development Corporation should earn revenue of about Rs 800 crore per annum under the existing rules and regulations.