India’s Nagar Van Yojana, launched in 2020 to create urban forests, is encountering significant challenges with delayed funding for park maintenance after the initial year.
Field surveys conducted in June 2026 across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan revealed that while saplings are available, delayed allocation of funds from the National CAMPA Fund frequently hampers the scheme’s success. This leads to erratic maintenance, delayed wage payments for caretakers, and deterioration of essential facilities like water systems and boundary fences.
The article suggests a two-stage solution: secure multi-year maintenance funding with scheduled disbursements and site inspections, and transfer day-to-day management to local partnerships involving forest departments, urban local bodies, and Joint Forest Management Committees. These partnerships could raise limited revenue through ecotourism and regulated entry fees to ensure timely staff payments and infrastructure upkeep, while the forest department retains land ownership.
Source: Down To Earth