While the yearly budget for the project is estimated to be Rs 72 crore, the Centre has already released Rs 3.5 crore.

The project will cover 60,000 hectares in districts like Hamirpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur and Mahoba. Conservator (Jhansi division) B C Tiwari said: "Apart from extensive plantation drives, the terrain in Bundelkhand needs measures to treat the soil and conserve water. We have our district plans ready and from April, we will begin work.”

The project will have two essential components. For soil conservation, experts will be invited to make plans for its treatment through natural resources. This will be done through construction of peripheral bunds, marginal bunds and gully plugging. While the former two will create natural fencing and also provide protection from water and wind erosion in low rainfall areas, gully plugging will stop soil erosion in gullies formed in the top soil by flow of rainwater. Barriers or small plugs made from different materials will be put on these gullies to stop erosion.

The second component is water conservation and management. The Forest department will construct a channel of brushwood check dams, earthen check dams and pucca cemented check dams according to the site requirement. These check dams will be complete before the monsoons so that these can retain rainwater. The water will be utilised for plantation in catchment areas to further conserve soil.

"The entire project will have support from three programmes — the National Afforestation and Ecodevelopment Board, Additional Central Assistance and the convergence under the MNREGS,” said Tiwari. He added that through convergence, the department will not only manage soil and water, but also provide employment in the region.