New Delhi, November 18 : .The story of car-forclearance, as IANS reported two days ago, opened up Pandora’s Box on the affairs of regional offices of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The Guwahati Regional Empowered Committee (REC), which gave a conditional recommendation for a use agency to construct a transmission line for a hydropower project at the Assam–Arunachal Pradesh border, knew about the existence and requested a field report.
It turns out that the need for a vehicle to recommend or grant forest land clearing is common for most agencies.
According to reports, the REC Guwahati is an agency of the MoEF&CC that asked for a vehicle and suggested it be a Toyota Innova – instead of recommending clearing forest land for a transmission link through a forest reserved for evacuating hydropower from a project at the Assam–Arunachal Pradesh frontier.
The REC asked for a report from the Chief Wildlife Warden (Assam) to verify that the study was about elephant corridors in the vicinity where diversion of forest is required.
This went against conventional practices of asking for a study beforehand.The user agency Power Grid Corporation of India Limited was also asked to provide a similar report on the site.
Apart from P C Bhattacharya, an independent expert and an ex-officio chairman, the REC also had other members.As an independent expert member of REC, Bhattacharya is also from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), which has published the book ‘Right of Passage – Elephant Corridors of India.
He should know where elephant corridors are and which ones aren’t.What are they actually doing instead? Ritwick Dutta, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, a think tank that advocates legal rights, stated that the REC approved it and requested an inspection report from field.
IANS reached Bhattacharya but he refused to comment.
Experts raised concerns about demand for a vehicle, including a Toyota Innova specification.
If the proposed project is located in remote Arunachal Pradesh, and it’s necessary to keep track of that area, then why would you require a Toyota Innova?” The vehicle can be used in urban areas, but it is not suitable for forests with sludge-laden terrain and undulating landscapes.They want the vehicle for REC only,” an expert stated, adding that “This is how they ask for a vehicle form a user agency.This seems to be the best incentive to divert forest land.” They could ask for a patrol car if they wanted it.They have institutionalized what was previously happening unofficially.
This isn’t the first time regional offices have requested favours from user agencies.
A government delegation was sent by the Lohit District in February 2018 to review forest clearings.It stayed in the Lohit guesthouse, but it didn’t even get to meet with the stakeholders.
It is not uncommon for Odisha to ask for vehicles.When the Principal Chief Conservator for Forest suggests forest diversion, almost all of the high-end SUVs/Sedans that are used by the officers at Aranya Bhavan (the state headquarters of Odisha Forest Department), have been extorted from steel and mining companies.The vehicle is used for patrolling Compensatory Afforestation plantations (CAF), while it roams through Bhubaneshwar.” Biswajit Mohanty, an alleged ex-member of the National Board for Wildlife Law (NBWL), claims.
A 2015 media report also revealed that a vehicle being used by then Union Environment Minister was provided by a user company in support of a mining proposal.
The MoEF&CC regional offices at Guwahati issue the clearance of forest after receiving the REC recommendation.
However, sources from Delhi’s MoEF&CC said that the Ministry had not approved the proposal.The REC has made a recommendation.Forest clearance has not been granted yet.Sources said that we won’t allow illegal trade-offs.
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