LI Network
Published on: 4 August 2023 at 10:30 IST
The Rajya Sabha passed the controversial Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 on 2 August, 2023, after the opposition walked out due to their demands for discussions on the Manipur Violence.
The Bill seeks to amend certain provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, with the aim of extending and exempting specific types of land from the Act’s applicability. The legislation had previously been approved by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote.
The Statement of Object and Reasons in the Bill highlights the need to broaden the scope of the Act to achieve the country’s objective of increasing forest cover and creating a carbon sink of an additional 2.5 to 3.0 billion tons of CO equivalent by 2030.
The Bill addresses the confusion surrounding the Act’s applicability to different types of land following the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgment in T.N. Godavarman vs. Union of India and others.
Before this judgment, the Forest (Conservation) Act only applied to notified forest lands, while non-forestry use in revenue forest areas was allowed through government permissions. However, the judgment expanded the Act’s application to recorded forest areas, including those already used for non-forestry purposes.
This led to uncertainties regarding the Act’s application to plantations on private and government non-forest lands, necessitating clarification.
The amendments in the Bill include changing the short title of the Act to the “Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980,” and clarifying the scope of its applicability to various lands.
The Act will now apply to land notified as a forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, or recorded as forest in government records after the 1980 Act came into effect.
The Bill also provides exemptions for certain categories of land, such as forest land situated alongside government-maintained rail lines or public roads providing access to habitation or rail and roadside amenities up to a maximum size of 0.10 hectare.
Additionally, forest land within a distance of one hundred kilometers along international borders or the Line of Control or Line of Actual Control, proposed for strategic linear projects of national importance concerning national security, and land up to ten hectares proposed for security-related infrastructure are exempted.
Furthermore, land proposed for defense-related projects, camps for paramilitary forces, or public utility projects, as specified by the Central Government, not exceeding five hectares in Left Wing Extremism affected areas notified by the Central Government, are also exempted. Tree plantations or reafforestation on lands not declared or notified as forests in accordance with the Indian Forest Act, 1927, or under any other law in force on or after 25th October 1980 are exempted as well.
However, concerns have been raised by opposition parties regarding the exemption of forest land near border areas for national security projects, as it may negatively impact forest cover and wildlife in regions like Jammu & Kashmir and the north-eastern states.
The Bill also removes the mandatory central government approval for the diversion of forests in certain cases, giving state governments and UT administrations sole decision-making power. Critics argue that providing a blanket exemption for all security-related projects may not be appropriate, as it may affect forest cover and biodiversity.
Zoos are also exempted from prior approval under the Act, but this has been questioned, as the Supreme Court has previously disapproved of building zoos inside forest areas.
The Bill had undergone scrutiny by a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee, which recently submitted its report without proposing any changes. However, six opposition MPs filed a dissent note raising objections to the exemption of forest land at border areas, expressing concerns about biodiversity and forest coverage in the Himalayan region.
They also worried that it may lead to the exploitation of forest land for non-forest purposes.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill was introduced in March 2023 and subsequently referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. With the approval of both houses of Parliament, it will now be presented to the President for assent.