The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) cleared a record 125 projects involving diversion of forest land between August and October 2019.
In its 117th meeting, the FAC cleared 41 projects. This was the body’s last meeting before the forest clearance process will shift to Chandigarh, the regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), after October 31, when the presidential order reading Article 370 down will come into effect.
“In the 117th meeting held on October 17, 2019, 41 projects were cleared. In the 116th meeting, 54 projects were cleared and in the 115th meeting, 30 projects were cleared by the FAC,” Manoj Kr Dwivedi, the commissioner secretary to the forest, environment and ecology department of the state of J&K, told Down to Earth (DTE). “These clearance recommendations will be sent to the J&K cabinet and then finalised.”
J&K has its own FAC under the Jammu And Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997. The committee is headed by the chief secretary of the J&K government as the chairman, with officials of departments like forest, revenue, finance, soil and water conservation as members. The committee makes recommendations that are then accepted by the J&K cabinet.
While Dwivedi declined to share the details of the area of forest land diverted or the nature of projects, media reports said that around 271 hectares of forest land had been diverted in the 117th meeting for various development projects, like laying transmission lines, drilling tube wells, etc.
The number of clearances given in the last three meetings of the FAC is greater than the total number of clearances awarded in 2018. In the eight meetings of the FAC held in 2018, the body approved forest clearance for 97 projects, against the 125 clearances approved in just three meetings since August this year.
Under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, any diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes like building infrastructure or mining has to be pre-approved by the FAC, set up under the MoEF&CC.
In J&K, the law governing diversion of forest land is the J&K Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997. Under this Act, forest land diversion takes place on the resolution of the cabinet, based on the recommendations of the state FAC.
However, objections are being raised to the diversions in the absence of the application of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 in the state.
“Diversion of forest land without the consent of local communities and gram sabhas cause violation of their forest rights. This move comes at a time when there is a larger concern among the local communities over withdrawal of the constitutional protection of democratic rights including special protection to their land rights,” Tushar Dash of Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA), a forest rights advocacy platform of activists and experts, told DTE.
This article was originally published by Down To Earth and has been republished here with permission.