Nip in the bud projects that warrant forced clearances: Environment Ministry to states

As per the rules under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, anyone seeking to take up work in the forest and wildlife areas need prior approval. However, thousands of acres of forests have been diverted and destroyed by agencies, which have bypassed the rule.

Bengaluru: The Union Environment Ministry has directed forest officials in states to nip in the bud any projects that may create a situation of fait accompli, in which officials are forced to provide clearances because agencies complete part of the project outside the protected areas without prior approvals.

As per the rules under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, anyone seeking to take up work in the forest and wildlife areas need prior approval.

Officials inspect the area sought for diversion and recommend or reject the proposal. Such projects get in-principle approval (Stage 1), which is followed by a final decision (Stage 2) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

However, thousands of acres of forests have been diverted and destroyed by agencies, which have bypassed the rule, by taking up the project involving large-scale civil work without obtaining the prior approvals.

In an office memorandum, dated July 8, the MoEF&CC noted that for projects in protected areas, 'in-principle' approval should not be given before the project gets clearance from the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL).

Further, for projects that are located both within and outside the protected areas, it said, “The ‘in-principle’ (Stage 1) approval can be granted in the portion of the land outside the protected area, provided that the Stage 2 (final approval) in such proposals will be given only after recommendation of the SC-NBWL. Further, no working permission after Stage 1 will be admissible in such cases to avoid a fait accompli situation.”

Sources in the Forest Department said the memorandum has once again highlighted the problems prevailing despite clear guidelines.

“For non-forest areas, only environment clearance rules are applicable. There is a situation where this route is used to take up projects in such areas and later ask for forest clearance. Several road projects have received approval because of fait accompli situations. We hope the guidelines will put an end to it,” an official said.

For instance, the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) has sought post-facto approval for submerging 696.83 acres of forest in the Kudremukh range of Western Ghats by increasing the height of a dam in 1994.

In 2022, the Regional Empowered Committee of the MoEF&CC had slammed the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL) for its violations in the Varahi project. The KNNL had sought prior approval to divert 43.2 acres of forest for the Varahi left bank canal. However, the environmental impact of the project was not accessed. The committee noted that an "irreversible" situation has been created forcing approval of the project.

Coal mining

At the Centre, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the MOEF&CC has repeatedly come across similar situations. Notably, the committee had sought opinion from the Law and Justice Ministry after the Coal India Limited requested environment authorities to allow coal mining in non-forest land with Stage-1 clearance. The FAC noted that this will create a fait accompli situation when request is made for adjoining forest land.

To a question, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Subhash K Malkhede said the old projects will be viewed with the guidelines existing when they were taken up.

“The memorandum brings clarity to the issues and helps both the project proposer and the department in assessing the works,” he said.