(a) whether the diversion of forest land for developmental activities
require prior approval of the Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of such proposals
received by the Government during the last three years and the current
year, State-wise;
(c) the number of proposals approved and rejected during the said
period and the details of the pending projects alongwith the reasons therefor; and
(d) the time by which all the proposals are likely to be cleared?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
(SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a) The diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes including
developmental purposes require prior approval of the Central Government
under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
(b) & (c) The details of proposals received by the Central Government
in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 along with details of projects
approved/ rejected by and under consideration of the Central Government is
given in Annexure.
Detailed site inspection is required in proposals involving more than 100
ha of forest land. Quite often the proposals received are not complete in
all respects and the Central Government has to seek further details/ documents
from the concerned State Governments. These are the main reasons of
pendency of the proposals.
(d) The proposals for diversion of forest land are processed in the
Ministry of Environment & Forests and then considered by the Forest
Advisory Committee constituted under the provisions of the Forest
(Conservation) Act, 1980. The Ministry takes a decision after considering
the recommendations of the Committee. Proposals involving 100 ha or more
forest land are also inspected in detail by the officers of the concerned
Regional Office of the Ministry. The Ministry takes prompt action to consider
the projects for forest clearance when projects complete in all respects are
received.