MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) to (f) A statement is laid on the table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 390 ASKED BY SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH AND SHRI PINAKI MISRA REGARDING ‘FOREST CONSERVATION ACT, 1980’ DUE FOR REPLY ON 20.03.2020
(a)& (b) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched an online portal namely ‘PARIVESH’ for submission and processing of online proposals for approval of use of forest land for non-forestry purposes under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. As per the information available in the portal a total of 3616 projects involving 69414.32 hectares of forest land have been approved for non-forest use under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in the last five years. The State/UT-wise details are annexed. During the same period Compensatory Afforestation (CA) has been stipulated over more than 126000 hectares. The State/UT-wise and year-wise details of CA stipulated over forest land and non-forest land in the last five years are annexed.
As per Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003 (and amendments made thereafter), it is mandatory for the State Government to submit a certificate regarding complete compliance of the process of identification and settlement of rights under Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA)prior to approval under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
(c) Land acquisition is undertaken by the Central and State Governments under various Central and State Acts, including the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act, 2013) and the provisions of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 are implemented by appropriate Government as defined under Section 3 (e) of the said Act. As such information on State/UT wise land acquired, rehabilitation and resettlement are not maintained at Central Government level.
Under Section-5 of FRA, Gram Sabha is, inter-alia, empowered to ensure that the decisions taken in Gram Sabha to regulate access to community forest resources and stop any activity which adversely affects the wild animals, forest and the biodiversity are complied with.
(d)& (e)No exemption has been provided for compliance with FRA provisions.
(f) Site-specific non-forestry activities including coal mining are generally permitted in forest areas as per the provisions under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. In such cases, in order to compensate the loss of natural forest areas and ecosystem services Net Present Value (NPV) is levied and Compensatory Afforestation (CA) over equivalent non-forest land or double degraded forest land is stipulated. In addition, adequate safeguards and appropriate mitigation measures are also stipulated on case to case basis such as:
i. implementation of Catchment Area Treatment Plan,
ii. implementation of Soil and Moisture Conservation activities,
iii. maintenance of safety zone etc.
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