Forest clearance will not be on lines of environmental clearance

The suggestion to form forest advisory
committees (FAC) to speed up the pace of ‘forest clearance’ process has been
rejected by the environment ministry.

The group of ministers (GoM) headed by
finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked the environment ministry to set up
FACs for each sector, including mining and power. The new format, if accepted,
would have meant forest clearance on the lines of environmental clearance,
where approval is granted by sectoral expert appraisal committees (EACs). The
ministry has, however, not accepted the proposal.

Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan is
expected to oppose attempts to dilute ‘green rules’ at the GoM, and will insist
that the ministry continue to follow the Supreme Court (SC) directions in this
regard.

The SC had said that the National Board for
Wildlife (NBWL) will decide on projects coming up within a 10-kilometre radius
of around 600 protected areas in India. ‘There is no change in that norm,’ Natarajan
had said.

Non-official NBWL members had also asked
the ministry to prepare proper guidelines for processing the projects, and
discuss important wildlife conservation issues.