NEW DELHI: After cocking a snook at the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the environment ministry's Forest Advisory Committee
(FAC) has also snubbed the Central Information Commission (CIC) by
holding meetings and clearing projects in violation of the panel's
orders on disclosing the proposals to public.
In addition, even after three years of the environment ministry's orders, the committee — the mandatory body to give its nod for use of forests — has bypassed the need to seek the compulsory consent from affected village councils of tribals and forest-dwellers.
Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan told TOI, "These actions and decisions of the officials are unacceptable to me. The forthcoming meeting of the FAC will be postponed, and I shall resolve these issues."
The FAC's decision — to clear projects defying the norms laid down by CIC as well as its parent ministry — comes even as the forest bureaucracy has told the NGT that the authority to give forest clearance doesn't come under its purview.
In February, the CIC had ordered that the environment and forests ministry must put out details of the projects to be cleared in public domain before the FAC considers them. These, the commission demanded, be put out at least 10 days before the FAC considers the cases.
But the FAC had failed to do so. In fact, it has put out even the agenda of the meeting only a couple of days before the senior forest officials in the FAC decide to clear the projects.
The FAC, which is chaired by the director-general of forests, has persisted with violating the 2009 orders of the parent ministry, demanding that the panel ensure affected villages certify that their rights have been settled under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the green patch under consideration and also give their consent for use.
Minutes of the meetings held since April show that many cases were cleared without considering the FRA and parent ministry's orders. The 2009 order requiring the clearance process fall in line with the FRA has largely been ignored by the forest bureaucracy since its inception. Senior forest officials had even asked Natarajan's predecessor, Jairam Ramesh, to withdraw the orders.
In April, almost three years after the orders were passed by the environment ministry to synchronize the clearance process with provisions of FRA, FAC resolved in a meeting to follow it. It had also asked for all relevant documents, including the village council resolutions, consenting to the forest diversion. But soon after, the minutes reveal, the committee, which consists of senior forest officials and three non-government experts (with one vacancy at the moment), started ignoring the orders while clearing projects.
A perusal of the latest agenda of scheduled FAC meeting shows that even projects that had been rejected earlier for lack of mandated documents or falling foul of regulations and norms are back on the talks table, including the Kalu Dam project in Maharashtra's Thane district, which is also under litigation in the High Court.
In addition, even after three years of the environment ministry's orders, the committee — the mandatory body to give its nod for use of forests — has bypassed the need to seek the compulsory consent from affected village councils of tribals and forest-dwellers.
Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan told TOI, "These actions and decisions of the officials are unacceptable to me. The forthcoming meeting of the FAC will be postponed, and I shall resolve these issues."
The FAC's decision — to clear projects defying the norms laid down by CIC as well as its parent ministry — comes even as the forest bureaucracy has told the NGT that the authority to give forest clearance doesn't come under its purview.
In February, the CIC had ordered that the environment and forests ministry must put out details of the projects to be cleared in public domain before the FAC considers them. These, the commission demanded, be put out at least 10 days before the FAC considers the cases.
But the FAC had failed to do so. In fact, it has put out even the agenda of the meeting only a couple of days before the senior forest officials in the FAC decide to clear the projects.
The FAC, which is chaired by the director-general of forests, has persisted with violating the 2009 orders of the parent ministry, demanding that the panel ensure affected villages certify that their rights have been settled under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the green patch under consideration and also give their consent for use.
Minutes of the meetings held since April show that many cases were cleared without considering the FRA and parent ministry's orders. The 2009 order requiring the clearance process fall in line with the FRA has largely been ignored by the forest bureaucracy since its inception. Senior forest officials had even asked Natarajan's predecessor, Jairam Ramesh, to withdraw the orders.
In April, almost three years after the orders were passed by the environment ministry to synchronize the clearance process with provisions of FRA, FAC resolved in a meeting to follow it. It had also asked for all relevant documents, including the village council resolutions, consenting to the forest diversion. But soon after, the minutes reveal, the committee, which consists of senior forest officials and three non-government experts (with one vacancy at the moment), started ignoring the orders while clearing projects.
A perusal of the latest agenda of scheduled FAC meeting shows that even projects that had been rejected earlier for lack of mandated documents or falling foul of regulations and norms are back on the talks table, including the Kalu Dam project in Maharashtra's Thane district, which is also under litigation in the High Court.
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