Take away gram sabha rights in diverting forest land for projects: High level committee

Over and above seeking to solicit "utmost complete faith" in the corporate sector in providing environmental clearance, the Report of the High Level Committee on Forest and Environment Related Laws, formed by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), has asked the Government of India to scale down the role of the gram sabhas in diverting forest land. Released last week, the report, whose copy is with Counterview, says that the “provisions of forest rights Act (FRA), which make it mandatory to seek the approval of gram sabha, should be amended.”
Headed by former Union Cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian – and consisting of Vishwanath Anand, former secretary, Government of India; Bishwanath Sinha, joint secretary, ministry of forests and environment; member-secretary, Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Hardik Shah; retired judge of the Delhi High Court Justice AK Srivastava; and senior advocate of the Supreme Court KN Bhat – the committee, interestingly, did not have even one well-known environmentalist.
The need to amend the FRA, the committee said, is necessary to ensure implementation of what are called “linear projects”, including transportation lines, gas pipelines, irrigation canals, and transmission lines, which “are generally for the benefit of the community at large”. By setting aside the gram sabha approval, it added, will be possible for such projects to be implemented on a "priority" basis.
The further said, the diversion of forest land for linear projects “should be appraised through a special cell” to be set up under the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) (or the State Environmental Management Authority (SEMA)” at the state level in order to “fast-track” these. The committee provides concessions in the “core area of forests and wildlife protected areas”, too. Saying that approvals should not “ordinarily be given for construction of any projects, including linear projects”, it said, there should be “exceptions” such as “re-laying of the existing roads.”
As for the rest of the forest areas, it explained, “In the matters of forest land diversion where the rights under FRA have not been settled and a proposal for linear project is considered for approval, the committee recommends that the provisions of FR Act which make it mandatory to seek the approval of gram sabha should be amended to dispense with this condition in general to ensure that the benefit of such linear projects are available to the recipient population.”
Interestingly, the committee does not seek to provide autonomy to the new authorities it has proposed, e NEMA or SEMA. It said, “In the context of paragraph 7.14 (xiii) as to whether NEMA ought to have final authority to confer approvals, or should refer their findings for a final decision to the MoEF, the committee considered the matter in depth. It was noted that the mandate for implementing the environmental laws, and by implication give environment/ forest approvals has been conferred by the Parliament to the Executive, in this case represented by MoEF.”
It added, “While all technical aspects of an application/ proposal for clearance would be examined on merits by the NEMA, it was felt that the final approval or rejection powers should be retained by the MoEF. This is because there may be many other factors, relating to relationship with neighbouring countries, need to address regional disparity issues, dealing with areas and regions with special problems and issues, and need to take national security issues into account etc.”
The committee underlined, “The NEMA may not always be privy to such considerations; besides the GoI may not also like to share sensitive information in some instances with subordinate formations. Taking these factors into account, the committee felt that the authority for final decision should be with the MoEF, with the proviso that specific reasons need to be assigned when the Ministry disagrees with the findings/ recommendations of the NEMA in a particular instance.”
Referring to the need to amend the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, the committee said, “The condition on the ownership and the physical possession of the land by the project proponent at the time of submission of application should be dispensed with, and be replaced as the ownership and possession before the construction or enabling activity thereof is started..”

It added, “However, the responsibility for acquiring the land should remain that of the project proponent and the Government shall remain indemnified for any liability on account of acts of the project proponent in this regard.”
---
Click HERE to download the full report

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog