The Union government has, in effect, cleared over a hundred development projects within the wildlife habitats in a single day while activists raise concerns about the possible impacts on wildlife conservation. The number is one of the highest ever cleared in one meeting
The minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav, chaired a meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) at Coimbatore on Thursday where the clearances were accorded. “Apart from 118 proposals related to infrastructure and defence received from state governments, programmes and policies related to species conservation, active management of tiger populations, and progress of projects emanating from NBWL meeting were reviewed,” wrote the minister at his X- media handle.
“(Minister) reviewed the progress made on several important directions issued by the NBWL and the standing committee in its earlier meetings, reaffirming the government’s commitment towards science-based wildlife conservation, protection of critical wildlife habitats, strengthening ecological connectivity and ensuring sustainable development,” says a release from the ministry accessed by The Plurals.
This was the 91st meeting of the standing committee, which reviewed the progress of decisions taken during the seventh meeting of the NBWL, chaired by the Prime Minister. Friday’s meeting “deliberated upon several important national conservation initiatives”, says the release.
Bridges, towers, educational institutes cleared in forest areas
“The committee considered more than 100 proposals across the country on roads and bridges, defence infrastructure, drinking water supply, communication towers, power transmission lines, optical fibre networks, pipelines, mining, renewable energy, educational institutions, public infrastructure and other essential development works requiring wildlife clearance under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972,” states the official communiqué .
“The proposals were appraised on the basis of their ecological impacts, importance for public welfare and national development, and the adequacy of mitigation measures to ensure conservation of wildlife and their habitats,” it further reads.
Concerns over speedy bulk clearing
Five of the standing committee meetings have been held in the last few months. On February 28, 2026, 58 fresh proposals were considered. On January 19, 2026, 70 proposals, including public utility, infrastructure and defence-related projects, got green signals.
On June 5, World Environment Day, this year Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP government at the Centre of “dismantling” forests and “weakening” the environmental governance framework.
“Official figures and project clearances indicate that nearly 1,91,922 hectares of forest have been chopped off in the last 11 years,” he pointed out.
Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister from Congress, earlier strongly criticized the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in its present avatar accusing it of functioning as a “clearing house” at the expense of ecological integrity and claimed that it compromises constitutional and environmental principles through an “extraordinary level of non-transparency”.
A section of wildlife activists also argues that accelerating forest clearances for large-scale infrastructure projects causes irreversible ecological damage, displaces indigenous communities, and undermines climate goals. “It is very important to consider the mining projects as they cause large scale damage over time, unlike a few other infrastructural projects that only cause problems during installation. Experts should be properly consulted before giving clearances particularly to such projects,” stated Pradeep Vyas, a retired principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) in West Bengal and presently president of the non-profit NEWS.