The main objective of the JICA project is wealth creation. At the review meeting of the Tripura JICA project, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha emphasized that special emphasis should be given to sustainable wealth creation to improve the standard of living of people in the state.

Chief Secretary J.K Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest K.S Shetty, Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. Pradeep Kumar Chakraborty, along with senior officials of concerned departments were present in the meeting.

In the meeting, the current status, progress, future action plans, and new initiatives of various JICA projects implemented in the state were discussed in detail. The Chief Minister said that the JICA project work needs to be accelerated so that people can get their benefits quickly.

Chief Executive Officer and Project Director of Tripura JICA Project, Dr. A.M Kanfade, said that the Tripura JICA project is currently being implemented in the state under Sustainable Catchment Forest Management in Tripura (SCATFORM).

The project started in the year 2019-20, and its duration is 10 years. The cost of the project is about 1000 crore rupees. The project has been implemented in 7 districts of the state, but the project is also running in 3 places of Dhalai district, he added.

He said that in a recent review meeting of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, Tripura was declared the second best-performing state in the country in the implementation of forestry projects.

In the meeting, the project director informed that 450 joint forestry management committees have been formed in the states under Sustainable Forest Management.

7 Central Nurseries, 3 Hi-Tech Nurseries, and 86 Decentralized People’s Nurseries have been developed. Infrastructural development of central nurseries and high-tech nurseries is also continuing.

He also informed that afforestation has been done on a cluster basis in 3059 hectares of Forestry Act lease land received as an initiative to implement Agroforestry. 5,130.49 hectares of artificial regeneration afforestation and 14,54170 hectares of aided natural regeneration afforestation have been completed.

On the other hand, in the meeting, the project director informed that 562 check dams have been excavated so far in 5-hectare reservoirs and 434 check dams in 2-hectare reservoirs.

Besides, 337 Amrit Sarovar check dams have been constructed under the Tripura JICA project (SCATFORM). 1237 self-help groups have been formed to improve the standard of living of the people. The women members of these self-help groups are being supported in various ways to increase their income.

Also, 290 multi-utility centers have been constructed under the Tripura JICA project. 28 beat Office is under construction. He also informed that initiatives will be taken to develop 3 eco-parks along with the development of 3 new eco-tourism centers in the state.

Meanwhile, Three new eco-tourism centers identified are Sitacherra Reservoir, Dumboor Reservoir, and Jampuihill.