National Importance Or Death Bell To Forests? Why Environmentalists Are Opposing Forest Amendment Bill

The Lok Sabha is set to discuss the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2023, in the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament.

If passed, it will replace the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 and make clearing of forested lands easier for development projects.

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Features of Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023

The bill proposes to amend the extent of applicability and non-applicability of the Act to certain types of lands. Further, it exempts a vast tract of forest lands from the requirement of forest clearance under section 2 of the Act.

One of the most significant proposals in the bill is that it will limit the definition of forest land only to include land recorded as ¡®forest¡¯ as on or after 25th October 1980.

The Bill proposes that only those forest lands that are notified as forests under law and those recorded as forests in any government record as on or after 25 October 1980 will be regulated under the principal Act.

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This means that the non-demarcated forests can be sold, diverted, cleared, felled, utilised, or exploited without any forest clearance.

Why are environmentalists protesting

Environmentalists are alarmed at the provisions of the bill, which they say will effectively declassify 197,159 sq. km of forests, which is 15% of India¡¯s forest cover, making it lose protection and leaving it open for destruction through afforestation, drilling, replacing forests with zoos, among other things.

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It will also exempt a large number of projects from the clearance process, which will mean that forest-dwelling people will no longer be consulted.

"It is ironic that they are calling it the Forest Conservation Bill when what they are doing is the opposite," Yash Marwah, a Mumbai-based environmentalist, said.

"But I don't see any provisions in this bill that will do anything for forest conservation. They are only making it easy to clear forests and changing the definition of the forest as defined in the Godavarman judgment," Marwah told Indiatimes.

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SC's Godavarman judgement

In the TN Godavarman vs Union of India judgment in 1996, the Supreme Court had interpreted the 'forest' with reference to its dictionary meaning and specifically stated that any land which is recorded as 'forest' in any government record will also require 'forest clearance'. SC had held that the FC Act must apply to all forests irrespective of the nature of ownership or classification thereof.

However, the 2023 amendment provides a much narrower interpretation to the term forest land by inserting section 1A to encompass only two types of land under its ambit, which are- land declared or notified as forest under Indian Forest Act, 1927 or other laws and land recorded in government records as on or after the 25th October 1980.

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National importance

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav introduced the Forest Amendment Bill 2023 in the Lok Sabha on March 29, arguing that the earlier Forest Conservation Act (FCA) of 1980 has been prone to misrepresentation.

The Union government has claimed that authorities are unable to undertake any change in land use for any development or utility-related work on "recorded forest lands", which works against the idea of "national importance".

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Environmentalists argue that the government is opening up forests to more construction projects in the name of national and strategic importance without clearly defining them.

"Anything can be of strategic or national importance, be it a road or a hydroelectric project. Nobody is denying that in LoC or international borders, we need roads and other infrastructure, but it doesn't need to be at this scale. Even former COAS Bipin Rawat had said that the char dham road doesn't have to be so wide that it ends up destabilising the region," he said.

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Why is it bad for Himalayas

Environmentalist Ravi Chopra, former Chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed committee on Char Dham, brought up how strategic projects could pave way for colossal damage to the entire Himalayan belt, which is already burdened.

"The current Bill also paves way to fast-track strategic projects, as noted in its statement of objects and reason. Construction of paths for either railways, roads or electricity transmission projects require tunnels, and tunnels require blasts. These blasts cause cracks in mountains. The government will tell you that it is all being done scientifically, but it isn't. The job is carried out by a local contractor and invariably, the environmental impact assessment wouldn't have been done. This is why the town of Joshimath sank," said Chopra.

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The bill also gives exemptions to Zoos and safaris, and eco-tourism facilities to be carried out on the forest land without prior approval of the central government under the label of activities ancillary to the conservation, development, and management of forests. It pushes for the removal of the forest clearance 'hurdles' for commercial entities in the guise of ecological security.

Environmentalists, NGOs, activists and concerned individuals from the Himalayas, a biodiversity hotspot that accounts for 30% of India's total forest area, have been protesting against the Bill.

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They fear that the amendment bill threatens the diverse wildlife, their habitats, ecosystems and the communities across the region.

Rights of indigenous people

Atul Sati, convener of the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, agrees.

"If the bill becomes law, it will affect our mountains and forest dwellers in Uttarakhand. If you look at history, Uttarakhand was founded on the ideas of jal jangal jameen. We fear that if the bill is passed, the rights of Indigenous people will be affected, and that is why we demand that the bill should be withdrawn," Sati told Indiatimes.

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Pranab Doley, an activist from the Mising Tribe in Assam, said the bill could be disastrous for Deepor Beel, the only Ramsar Site in the state.

"Deepor Beel is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam, the only Ramsar Site in the state and an International Bird Area, and almost one-third of the region comes under the category of unclassified forests. A railway line runs through it. It already falls in between an elephant corridor. 10 km of land around railway lines will be given NOC. So Deepor Beel, which is already under so much stress, is going to be vulnerable," Doley said.

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