Punjab government has proposed an allocation of Rs 1000 million for environment for the year 2019-20 as compared to an allocation of Rs 1200 million for the corresponding period to promote sustainable development in the province through integration of environmental considerations in pursuit of economic growth while improving regulatory regime and enforcement mechanism.
The government has proposed this allocation for carrying out 13 new schemes with an allocation of Rs 594.868 million and continuing work on four ongoing schemes with an allocation of Rs 405.132 million.
The key initiatives government intends to take up in the next financial year is to work for capacity building of EPA Punjab for Enforcement of Environmental Standards in Punjab including Combined Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and Industrial Estates (IEs) under J&C Programme and establishment, functioning of Strategic Planning & Implementation Unit (SP&IU) to carry out the activities identified under Punjab Green Development Programme, establishment of environmental laboratories at DG Khan and Bahawalpur and enhanced environmental quality monitoring systems for Punjab's air, surface and ground water resources, provision of missing environmental monitoring equipment / instruments in existing eight regional labs of EPA Punjab to effectively monitor the air and water quality.
Punjab Green Development Programme (PGDP) funded by the World Bank to strengthen environmental governance and promote green investments in Punjab at cost of US $273 million is also expected to take off during the next financial year. According to the budget document, US $200 million out of the total cost would be a loan by the World Bank under P4R modality. The government has proposed an allocation of Rs 599 million. The energy department will implement a scheme under PGDP titled retrofitting of public institutions with the allocation of Rs 500 million in FY 2019-20, the total cost of scheme is Rs 2.5 billion.
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