A standing committee headed by the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change on Monday considered 70 projects in protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and eco-sensitive zones, saying they were related to “public utility services, defence requirements and infrastructure development”. Consideration by the committee is regarded as good as official clearance.
The committee hearing has raised severe concerns about the possible negative impact of the projects on the environmentally sensitive zones where they will be located.
The 88th meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife, held under the chairmanship of the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav, considered the proposals, a Union ministry for environment, forest and climate change release said.
“This committee can officially consider proposals, another committee chaired by the prime Minister clears it technically, but this is as good as cleared,” said an expert.
The committee, a statutory body constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, looked at the ‘The Action Taken Report’ (ATR) on the decisions and directions it had taken earlier. The body is mandated to advise the Centre on conservation and protection of wildlife and forests, “while ensuring that development activities in and around protected areas are undertaken in a balanced and sustainable manner”.
The release itself describes the project locations as “protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and eco-sensitive zones”. This is the main reason of concern. Activists are also worried about how “development” is being defined within these parameters.
“The proposals were deliberated with due regard to ecological sensitivity, statutory requirements and the need to ensure essential services for local communities,” it added.
The committee considered public utility projects involving “drinking water supply under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), primary and community health centres, widening of roads, 4G mobile towers and transmission lines”, the release said. Other proposals related to a “medium irrigation project in Madhya Pradesh providing drinking and irrigation water facility in Bundelkhand region on one hand and enhancing greater water regime for wildlife and gharials on the other were also deliberated”, the release added.
The committee also considered 17 defence-related proposals, most of them located in the union territory of Ladakh and Sikkim. These are related to “strategic infrastructure in border and high-altitude areas”, according to the statement.
It adds that these projects, required for national security and strategic reasons, were considered keeping in mind “strict adherence to wildlife mitigation measures and environmental safeguards, in line with directions of the committee and applicable statutory provisions”.
“Out of several kinds of developmental projects, I am mainly worried about the road widening and irrigation projects because they often divide the habitat,” said Pradeep Vyas, a former principal chief conservator of forest, West Bengal, to The Plurals.
“All documents regarding these need to be in public domain and the NGOs and independent experts should take an unbiased call on the matter, and the decision needs to be reviewed if they raise a legitimate red flag,” added the expert.