World Bank grants Rs 800 cr for Uttarakhand project

The World Bank has agreed to grant Rs 800 crore for the second phase of the watershed development programme – Gramya – in Uttarakhand, after the success of the first phase of the project. A World Bank team headed by Ranjan Samtre met Uttarakhand chief secretary Alok Kumar Jain on Thursday and cleared a proposal for granting Rs 800 crore for the watershed development project after holding detailed dicussions on it, according to an official release. A decentralised watershed development programme will be launched over 10 lakh hectares of land under Gramya Phase-II in 550 gram panchayats spread over 10 hill districts of the state. The seven-year programme will be implemented by gram panchayats through the Watershed Management Directorate.