Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change reprimanded the Odisha government for building walls, without approval, in forest land that will be part of the proposed Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri.
Forest Advisory Committee (FAC)
- It is a statutory body which was constituted by the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980.
- It comes under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
- The FAC evaluates industrial projects which require forest land for their activities.
- The committee may or may not approve a project and can give an approval for forest land to be diverted, after imposing certain conditions.
- In the recent case, satellite pictures showed that the agency tasked with the project had already built a wall without waiting for approval by the FAC.
Forest Conservation Act, 1980
- The Forest Conservation Act of 1980 was enacted to streamline forest-related laws, regulate deforestation, oversee the transportation of forest products, and levy duties on timber and other forest produce.
- Under the provisions of this Act, prior approval of the Central Government is required for diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.
- It primarily applied to forest lands recognized by the Indian Forest Act, 1927, or State records since 1980.
- Supreme Court’s Interpretation: The Godavarman judgement, 1996 by the Supreme Court mandated the protection of forests regardless of classification or ownership.
- This introduced the concept of deemed forests or forest-like tracts referring to areas resembling forests but not officially classified as such in government or revenue records.
- Concern Regarding Varying Definitions of Forests: States in India interpret ‘forests’ differently based on surveys and expert reports, leading to diverse definitions.
- For example, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh base their definitions on size, tree density, and natural growth, while Goa relies on forest species coverage.
- Varying definitions result in estimates of deemed forest ranging from 1% to 28% of India’s official forest area.
Recent Amendment to Forest Conservation Act
- The recent Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 aimed to bring clarity and address concerns surrounding deemed forests.
- It focused on defining the scope of forest land under the Act’s purview, exempting certain categories of land from its provisions.
- It exempts up to 0.10 hectares of forest land for connectivity purposes along roads and railways, up to 10 hectares for security-related infrastructure, and up to 5 hectares in Left Wing Extremism Affected Districts for public utility projects.
- However, the Supreme Court’s interim directive maintains the traditional approach to forest governance, unaffected by the recent amendment enacted by the Centre.
- Also, the Supreme Court ruled that the creation of zoos or safaris by any government or authority must receive final approval from the court.