Why this throwback to the pre-regulation era? "Earlier the project approval procedure was cumbersome and time-consuming. Now a decision has to be taken on the proposals within 90 days," explains N K Joshi, director general of forests, moef. Inspector general of forests V K Bahuguna takes the welfare tack: "More than 40 per cent of the diverted land has gone towards legalising encroachments. We have to take care of the country's development needs." To be sure, about 55 per cent of the entire regularisation process took place in the past four years. This, however, accounts for only 12 per cent of the encroachments proposed to be legalised since 1980.
Statistics also show that the nod for more than 40 per cent of all mining ventures, cleared from 1980 onwards, was given during 1999-2003. In terms of area, this works out to 33 per cent of forestland diverted for mining since 1980. "About 90 per cent cases pertain to lease renewal," asserts Bahuguna. Joshi reveals that such extension of old leases does not lead to an actual increase in diverted land. But a notional addition is made while calculating the total area under mining, he points out. However, Ravi Rebbapragada of Mines, Minerals and People, an alliance of tribal groups and organisations, differs: "Lease renewal is as good as issuing a fresh lease since it may result in more forestland being used for mining."
It may be noted that while fca mandates the Union government's approval for diversion of forestland for non-forestry uses, it does not ban such conversion. At the same time, the act contains several regulatory measures. For instance, if the project area falls within a national park or wildlife sanctuary, the venture is considered under fca only after it has been cleared by the National Wildlife Board. Even as state governments manage forests, moef is vested with the authority to give the go-ahead for diversion of forestland.
fca also lays down an elaborate process for clearing projects. The regional offices of moef can grant approvals for diversion of tracts up to 5 ha. If the area involved is 5-40 ha, the regional office processes the application along with the state advisory group (sag), but the Union ministry gives the final nod. "Regional offices don't work properly. There has been no regional conservator of forests in the north-eastern zone for the past few months," says Ritwick Dutta, a Delhi-based environmental lawyer.
For tracts above 40 ha, the project proposal is sent to the centre. The forest advisory committee (fac) processes it and gives its final recommendation. The fac and sag are constituted under fca to advise the Union minister of environment and forests.
One of the most important preconditions for approving proposals relates to compensatory afforestation -- offsetting forestland diversion by growing trees on non-forestland spread over an equivalent area, or on degraded forestland that is twice the size of the tract in question. "Such restoration work is done only on paper," laments R Sreedhar, member, Mines, Minerals and People.
The available data, too, highlights the fact that just 484,000 ha of land has been afforested since 1980 against the stipulated area of over 687,000 ha. "A compensatory afforestation management and planning agency is being set up to improve the situation," reveals Bahuguna. It remains to be seen how much this step helps in stemming the rapid denudation.
