The 140-Mw Alaknanda is not the only case where authorities ignored the FAC's view. The last year saw Paryawaran Bhawan that houses the environment ministry giving the green nod to as many as four projects (including Posco and SAIL's Chiria mines), overlooking the recommendation of the FAC. In 2010, the ministry had overlooked the committee's recommendations on the Renuka Dam project in Himachal Pradesh.
The pattern-like recurrence has mystified many. South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) wonders why statutory bodies exit if none is willing to listen to them. “In the case of the Alaknanda project, it featured issues so serious that both the FAC and the Wildlife Institute of India had raised the issue," points out Himanshu Thakkar of the Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation founded in 1998.
As for the Chiria mines in deep-south Jharkhand, FAC had raised serious concerns over the proposed diversion of forest land for non-forest use. “It is high time that the committee got more tooth and claw," adds Thakkar.
FAC advises the ministry on any activity that requires the diversion of forestland for non-forest use. The committee was constituted under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The first such body was constituted at a time when the ministry did not exist, but the charge of the department was held by then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Read the full report here.
Source: Piyali Mandal, Business Standard, New Delhi.
