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Presenting the state budget for 2024-25 in the legislative assembly, the chief minister said that a simplified procedure will be introduced for obtaining a unified consent letter under Water, Air and Environment Protection Act from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. This will be done to promote ease of doing business, he added. To strengthen the functioning of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, a single window mechanism will be created and, using this, various permissions and certificates will be issued, he said.
Seventeen real-time water quality measurement stations and two environment laboratories will be set up by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. Besides, and nine environment laboratories will be upgraded, the chief minister announced. Private apartments in Bengaluru will be encouraged to use the treated water, as prescribed by the Board, he added.
Siddaramaiah said that in order to increase green cover across the state, 2.74 crore saplings are being planted under various programmes, thereby creating 50,225 hectares of plantation under various schemes like ‘Sirichandanavana’, greenification of urban areas, green budget, planting of medicinal plants, tree-parks, road side plantation, ‘Devarakadu’ plantations and green Karnataka programme. The chief minister said raised the ”blazing issue” of human-animal conflict that the state government is facing. More than Rs 201 crore has been spent towards protecting crops and people living in areas bordering forests from wild animals, while also protecting wildlife. To address the human-animal conflict, Rs 100 crore was provided in the previous budget for construction of railway barricades of which around 78 km was built. In the current year also, priority will be given to construction of such barricades, the chief minister said.
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