The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill 2023, which seeks to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act, in the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament.
The bill seeks to amend the pivotal 1980 conservation law which ensures that the forest land is not used for non-forestry purposes. The legislation exempts certain types of land from the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act like forest land along the international border, a rail line or a public road and to be diverted for strategic projects, amenities and setting up of zoos, safaris and eco-tourism facilities in forest areas.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill-2023 was passed after a brief debate which was responded to by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
All About the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill
The Bill primarily amends the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, which regulates the extraction of forest resources including timber and minerals and makes the forest land applicable to other use. These include land notified as a forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or in government records after the 1980 Act came into effect.
However, the main highlight of the act is that it exempts certain types of land from the purview of the Forest Conservation act.
To be specific, the bill exempt land within 100 km of the country’s borders from the purview of conservation laws and can be used for national security projects, small roadside amenities, and public roads leading to a habitation.
The bill also allows setting up of zoos, safaris and eco-tourism facilities in forest areas apart from activities like check posts, fencing, and bridges.
What it Means for Strategic Projects?
The draft seeks to exempts forest land within 100 kms of India’s national borders from the purview of the conservation laws to fast-track construction of strategic and security-related projects.
Simply put, the land situated within 100 km along the international borders, Line of Control, or Line of Actual Control, can be used for construction of strategic linear projects for national importance or security.
The government further said that the legislation would enable the strategic and security related projects of national importance to be fast-tracked ensuring development of vital security infrastructures near the border areas.
Similarly, small establishments, habitations on the side of roads and railways will also be connected to main arterial roads and other public utilities, a government statement said.
The bill exempts land up to 10 hectares, proposed to be used for constructing security related infrastructure, or land proposed to be used for constructing defence related projects, camp for paramilitary forces, or public utility projects as specified by central government not exceeding five hectares in a left-wing extremism affected area.
The bill also seeks to empower the central government to specify, by order, the terms and conditions subject to which any survey, such as, reconnaissance, prospecting, investigation or exploration including seismic survey, shall not be treated as non-forest purpose.
Implications for forest-cover
The Bill will affect forests as huge tracts of forest areas in the Himalayas and those previously protected under conservation laws could be exposed to man-made projects.
A group of over 100 former civil servants, members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), said that the bill threatens green cover as the country already lost almost 90,000 hectares of forest land between 2018-19 and 2022-23 after it was diverted for non-forest use.
They also pointed out that the country lost 4.2 million hectares of forest land during 1950-1980s due to diversion for non-forestry purposes.
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